arugula – And What I Ate

Turkey Arugula Burgers

I’ve really cut down on the amount of red meat I eat, which means ground turkey is a substitute for a ton of recipes. After I got out of work early the day before the 4th of July, I came home and made these awesome turkey-arugula burgers for lunch. The onion gives them a little crunch, the dijon mustard holds them all together, and they were ready in maybe 10 minutes flat, which was just enough time for me to throw together a summer salad to go with lunch. We put these on potato rolls and mashed up some avocado to use as a base for these, which was awesome. Brendan made these killer dark and stormys and we kicked off the 4th of July weekend right.

TURKEY-ARUGULA BURGERS (makes 4)
– 1 lb. ground turkey
– 1 cup arugula
– 1/4 onion, diced
– 2 tbsp. dijon mustard
– kosher salt & pepper (maybe 1 tsp. each)

1. Get the grill (or grill pan) ready.

2. In a bowl, combine turkey, feta, onion, mustard and salt and pepper.

3. Dig in with your hands and mix it all together.

4. Form mixture into 4 equal burgers.

5. Grill for maybe 3-4 minutes on each side.

6. Serve on a bun with more arugula and mashed avocado, and enjoy the weekend.

Shaved Apple & Fennel Salad with Lemon and Toasted Walnuts over Arugula

Oh, Gwyneth Paltrow. She seems to get a lot of shade thrown her way for the Goop blog, the way she can do things like ask her celeb friends not to do interviews with a magazine that’s threatening to expose her, her kids’ names, her “conscious uncoupling”…etc. I get it to some degree, but come on – she’s freaking Gwyenth Paltrow. She’s been in serious relationships with Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck and Chris Martin. She’s an Oscar winning actress. Her mom is Blythe Danner and her godfather is Steve Spielberg. She’s run in some pretty heavy circles probably since she was born, so can we really blame her for thinking it’s normal for everyone get a wood-fired oven in their backyard? I think her ‘I am who I am” attitude is judged as not apologetic enough, but honestly, if I were her I wouldn’t be apologetic for what I grew up in and what things I enjoy either. I think she just is who she is, and frankly, that seems pretty cool. To summarize: Get it, girl. Now, Anne Hathaway, on the other hand… Anyway, the recipes on Goop are awesome – super super clean, healthy and delicious. This salad is adapted, and I’m going to be making it alllllll the time. Brendan even said it was the best salad he’s ever had.

SHAVED APPLE AND FENNEL SALAD WITH LEMON AND TOASTED WALNUTS (serves 2-4)
– 1 bulb fennel, top parts cut off (but leaves saved), core removed.
– 1 tart apple
– Juice and zest of 1 lemon
– toasted walnuts, approx. 1/3 cup
– approx. 3 tbsp. EVOO
– kosher salt & pepper
– Arugula (optional)

1. With either a julienne slicer or a Cuisinart food processor with a slicer attachment, shave the fennel bulb and the apple into paper-thin slices (this really makes a difference in the overall salad). Put into a bigger bowl.

2. Over medium heat, toast the walnuts, shaking the pan every minute or so and making sure they don’t burn.

3. Zest and juice the lemon, then add to the bowl with the apple and fennel shavings. Add kosher salt & pepper, mix well to combine.

4. Add EVOO and walnuts, mix. Top with the toasted walnuts and a couple fennel leaves.

5. If using arugula, I just arranged some on a plate, juiced a little lemon over it, then added the apple/fennel salad on top of the arugula leaves. The apple/fennel dressing will work as enough dressing for the arugula.

6. We had this with salmon burgers with a simple lemony dill sauce on avocado toasts. So good.

Watermelon, Feta & Arugula Salad with Basil and Red Onion

It’s the summer of salads! This is so easy, so pretty, and so tasty too. I know the 4th of July is on Thursday, so if you wanted to throw in some blueberries you could make a red, white, & blue (and green) salad for wherever you’re going to celebrate. This is a crowd pleaser – sweet watermelon, tangy feta, peppery arugula. Yummo.

WATERMELON, FETA & ARUGULA SALAD W/ BASIL & RED ONION (serves approx. 6)
– 3 cups of watermelon, cubed
– 10 oz. baby arugula
– 1/3 c. crumbled feta
– 1/4 red onion, cut into slivers of half moons
– 2 tbsp EVOO
– 2 tbsp balsamic
– small handful of basil, chiffonaded (is that a word? the verb of “chiffonade”? Oh well, it is today)
– kosher salt & fresh cracked black pepper

1. Cut the red onion into slivers, then soak it for approx. 15 minutes. This takes some of the “bite” out of the onion, so it doesn’t overpower the other flavors in the salad.

2. After it’s finished soaking, pat the onion dry, and then in a large bowl, combine it with the arugula, watermelon, basil & feta. I’ve found the easiest way to cut watermelon is to cut off the bottom (so you have a little stand), then cut it in half. Then, cut the green parts off around the sides, using downwards cuts.

Like so.

3. In a small jar, add the balsamic, then a little kosher salt & pepper. Then, add the EVOO, and mix together well.

4. When ready to serve (this gets kind of soggy if you mix it too far in advance, so add the dressing just when it’s ready to go out to the table), top the salad with the dressing. Mix everything gently together and serve. Preferably dining alfresco with your wonderful family.

— I’m big on the post-scripts lately, I know, but I just want to thank MY FRIEND Klob for believing in Andwhatiate.com so much and for his very generous donation. You’re my favorite and I’m putting that on the internet for everyone to see! Thank you my friend. I owe you dinner – I’ll cook.

Avocado & Tomato Salad with Lemon Olive Oil

Ohhh, this is just the best thing ever. There are 5 main ingredients in this recipe, and they all combine to create one of the most delicious salads I’ve ever had. The creaminess of a whole avocado together with toasted, super thin slices of almonds is insanely good on its own. Combine that with the peppery-ness of some arugula, the freshness of plum tomatoes, and a little dusting of parmesan cheese, dress it with a really simple lemon olive oil, good grief. This seems like a really indulgent little lunch, but it’s so healthy, and pretty, too. The next time we have people over for dinner, I think I’m going to make a platter of this for the salad course. Any takers?

AVOCADO & TOMATO SALAD WITH ARUGULA, TOASTED ALMONDS, & LEMON OLIVE OIL (serves 1)
– 1 ripe avocado, halved
– 1.5 plum tomatoes, cut into quarters (discard the middle part with the seeds)
– handful arugula leaves, or mixed greens
– handful thinly sliced almonds (you can find a bag of these in most grocery stores), toasted
– parmesan cheese, for topping
– juice of half a lemon
– 2 tbsp. EVOO
– good-quality salt, for topping

1. In a small pan, toast the almonds over medium heat, shaking the pan frequently so they don’t burn. They should toast up pretty quickly – maybe only 2-3 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and set aside.

2. Cut the avocado in half – run a knife through it, twist it open, then carefully whack the avocado pit with the knife blade and remove it. Then, run your knife around the perimeter of the avocado halves, and carefully squeeze out each avocado half.

3. Arrange arugula leaves in the center of a plate, then place the avocado halves on either side. Add sliced tomatoes.

4. Combine the lemon juice and EVOO, stir to combine. Drizzle over the avocado/tomato/arugula.

5. Top with the toasted almond slices, dust with a little parmesan cheese, then add a pinch of really good quality salt crystals over everything to bring it all together.

I’m going to go make another one of these right now. So good!

Chicken Milanese

This recipe is one of my tried and true since I started cooking almost ten years ago. It’s fresh and light and can be made super healthily – the “wash” of lemon juice and olive oil, and the topping of peppery arugula bring this classic dish to a different level. The first time I made this for a boyfriend (ten years ago) he said, “If I was going to open a restaurant, this would be one of my signature dishes”. He went on to become a CPA instead of a restauranteur, but I’ll still take that compliment. :]

CHICKEN MILANESE with arugula and a “lemon wash”

Ingredients (serves 8):

– 8 thinly sliced chicken breast cutlets

– 1 vidalia onion, diced

– 4 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

– 2 cloves garlic, chopped

– Baby arugula (approx. 2 cups)

– Juice of 1 lemon

– Parmesan cheese (approx. 2 tablespoons)

– Bread Crumbs (approx. 3 cups)

– Olive oil

– salt

– pepper

1. Heat 1 T. olive oil and 1 T. butter (or 2 T. olive oil instead of 1 and 1) in small saucepan.

2. When melted, add the diced vidalia onion and saute until soft.

3. Add 2 cloves crushed garlic, stir until fragrant (approx. 1 minute)

4. Seed approx. 4 plum tomatoes (seeds make things kind of bitter) and dice, add to the onion/garlic mixture. Reduce heat to low and let simmer to blend flavors and ingredients while you prep the chicken.

5. Rinse chicken and pat dry, season with salt and pepper.

6. Arrange 2 bowls for breading: the first one should be a mix of the juice of one lemon and 2 tablespoons olive oil, whisked together, the second a mix of 3 cups breadcrumbs and grated parmesan.

7. Heat approx. 1/4 inch of olive oil (and 1 T butter, optional) in a large skillet. ** Alternatively, for a healthier version, you can bread the chicken, spray it with Pam olive oil cooking spray, and bake it in the oven at 350 for approx. 20 minutes, flipping once.

8. Dredge the seasoned chicken in the olive oil/lemon juice mixture, then in the bread crumbs/parmesan mixture.

breaded chicken, ready to be cooked either in a pan or in the oven.

9. Cook in the oil (or in the oven, after spraying with Olive Oil cooking spray), flipping once, until each side is golden brown and chicken is cooked through (these cutlets were thin enough that each side took approx. 5 minutes).

10. If you cook the chicken in the oil, when it’s ready, remove and drain on paper towels (at this point I was regretting not spraying it with olive oil and baking it)

11. Top chicken with arugula dressed with a simple lemon viniagrette (1 T lemon juice, 3 T olive oil, salt and pepper to taste), and then top that with the tomato/onion/garlic mixture, which at this point should be combined in a really melted down, kind of awesome little chunky “sauce”. Serve with shaved curls of parmesan cheese (optional) and a lemon wedge.