I have a habit of buying random ingredients without any concrete plans for use. This happened the other day when I went to Whole Foods to check out their (as advertised) new lower produce prices.
I can’t say I really noticed any difference in prices. The berries I walked by still seemed too expensive to put into my cart; however, I realized I had no real reference for the price of produce because I typically buy it cheap at my local Mexican grocery store. I literally never buy produce at Vons (Safeway) or Ralphs (Kroger) unless it’s on sale and only buy the economically priced produce at Trader Joe’s. Man I’m cheap, huh?!
When I wandered over to the pre-packaged salad selection, I grabbed a bag of organic arugula for purchase. I was somewhat satisfied by this purchase because it was only $1.99 (which honestly seemed like a standard price for a tiny bag of triple-washed lettuce) and I really love an arugula salad.
Part of the fun about buying random ingredients with no plan for use is to try to come up with a suitable recipe. If you google “arugula + salad” one of the first salad recipes you find is one from Minimalist Baker (love her blog). I liked the recipe because it was simple to assemble and we had all of the ingredients called for on hand without having to run out and buy anything. Score!
I changed the recipe slightly because we had red onions last night in our breakfast bowls and I’m not a huge fan of red onions. The taste is rather overpowering and sticks to your ribs. I subbed carrot ribbons because thin ribbons of colorful vegetables make me happy. I also changed the dressing recipe slightly because my lemon seemed to be extra large.
ingredients.
- ½ c. raw pecans
- 7 oz arugula (organic if you can)
- 1 large apple, your favorite variety (I used honey-crisp) sliced thin
- carrot peels (I used two carrots)
- dried cranberries
- lemon-olive oil dressing (see below)
directions.
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Toast pecans for 8 to 10 minutes (or until browned and fragrant) in a small pan over medium low heat. If you’d like you can add a bit of olive oil and some salt to the pan. Set aside to cool.
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While pecans are toasting, prep remaining salad ingredients and add to a large mixing bowl or ziplock bag. Add dressing to the bowl or ziplock bag and toss to combine (or seal and shake the bag).
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Top with pecans (I crushed them between my fingers) and serve immediately. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, if necessary.
*For the dressing: combine juice of one extra large lemon with 1/4 cup olive oil, two tablespoons maple syrup, one teaspoon dijon mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper in a jar and shake to combine.
**You can use a mandolin or vegetable peeler to make really thin apple slices and carrot ribbons.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 