Arugula Recipes – Super-Easy and Healthy

Want to sass up your food? Try arugula, a peppery little salad green beloved for centuries in Italy and now in stores and farmers markets nationwide in America.

For the less adventurous palates in your home, you may want to go a little easy on arugula at first because it’s pretty potent on its own. In salads, for example, mix it with milder greens like butter lettuce.

Here are 12 more arugula recipes and foodie tips. Have fun!

1. Combine the clean, sharp flavors of arugula with sweet peaches for a superb end-of-summer salad. Toss with white balsamic vinegar and some freshly ground black pepper.
2. Another delish salad combo is arugula and strawberries. Toss with Pritikin Chef Anthony Stewart’s delightful Honolulu Vinaigrette Salad Dressing.
3. Stuff arugula into whole-wheat pita sandwiches for a nice peppery blast.
4. Got bison or veggie burgers on the grill? Spice them up with a hefty topping of arugula.
5. Sprinkle your homemade whole-wheat pizza with a generous handful or two of arugula. Just add the leaves at the last minute of baking. Order delicious whole-wheat pizza dough (the same dough our Pritikin chefs use).
6. Add arugula to your whole-wheat pasta dishes. You don’t even need to cook your arugula leaves. Just toss them in at the end. The heat from the pasta will wilt them.
7. A super-easy pasta dish is arugula with canned tuna, minced garlic, and hot red pepper flakes. While the pasta is boiling, sauté the garlic and pepper flakes until the garlic is fragrant. Add the tuna, shredding it into fine flakes. Reserve a half-cup of the boiling pasta water. Add the cooked and drained pasta, plus the arugula, to the tuna. Toss, moistening with some of the reserved water.
8. Another easy pasta combination – shallots, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and arugula. Sauté garlic and shallots till golden. Add the cherry tomatoes, cooking till heated through. Toss with the cooked pasta and arugula.
9. Arugula is so aggressive that it easily stands up to strong fish like salmon. Make a bed of arugula leaves on your entrée dish. Top with your seared fish. Or get fancy with Chef Anthony’s recipe for Tuna Tartare With Baby Arugula Greens.
10. Another tasty arugula-fish recipe from our chefs is Seared Salmon with Arugula, Mushrooms, and Balsamic Vinegar.
11. Create a hearty, filling, classic Italian salad by combining arugula, a can of no-salt-added cannellini beans, canned tuna, aged balsamic vinegar, and coarse black pepper. If you’re feeling creative, see what other fresh veggies you may have sitting around, like tomatoes and zucchini, and toss them in. Dollop a little nonfat ricotta on top.
12. Another nifty bean-arugula combination is lentil and arugula salad. Toss cooked lentils with a minced shallot, some freshly chopped Italian parsley, and some really good red wine vinegar. Throw in a big bunch of arugula leaves, and toss again.

Finally, whether it’s arugula or any other vegetable or fruit or whole grain you’ve recently discovered that you like, experiment with it. “Have fun!” encourages Chef Anthony.

“More important than knowing what’s in a cookbook is knowing what you like. Start with what you enjoy, and virtually everything you attempt in the kitchen will be a success.

“Don’t be afraid of playing around with unusual combinations. I remember a guest who loved both fresh salsa and bananas, but couldn’t imagine adding a chopped banana to salsa. He tried it, and loved it! Set sail on your own cooking adventures with our healthy arugula recipes and your own culinary creations!”