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| "A" is for Arugula |
So I didn’t have anyone to kiss when the New Year rang
in. But true to my Cosmic nature I took
a moment to gaze outside my bedroom window into the starry night and
acknowledge our planet made it around the Sun one more time. In spite of protests and disagreements,
regardless of financial upturns or downward spirals, while some of us suffered
the loss of loved ones and others celebrated the birth of the new, planet Earth
completed her cycle. Your Cosmic
Muffin didn’t spin out of orbit or crash and burn into upon entering Earth’s
atmosphere during the last couple of weeks.
I was just really sick during the holidays.
But not even illness or missed deadlines interrupted our planet’s
obit. Now that I’m up and about and
feeling human, like most of us I’m more than ready to make use of this brand New
Year and the start of Earth’s next lap.
While some of us
make resolutions and others don’t, (I’m of the “don’t” group), you can’t deny the
prospect of walking along a new and as yet uncharted road is exciting. Even though I don’t make resolutions, I look
upon a clean, unmarked slate as appealing.
While lying in bed and looking
out at the night sky I pondered the personal changes I’d like to make. Things like being a kinder, more productive
woman has always been one of my New Year considerations. Exercising consistently is another internal
promise I make to myself. Maybe a little
less wine. Actually, having the flu for the
last ten days of 2014 kicked that one into gear even before the dawn of 2015. And
of course, less sugar and more veggies is another intention I set for
myself. Honestly, the explosion of
juicers and the multitudes of recipes for juicing and smoothies helped me
tremendously in 2014 and I’m sure will
continue in 2015.
But I’m a cook. One
who eats and offers services to others who eat.
So when I’m providing personal chef services for a client or teaching a
class I’m preparing real food that requires the use a knife and fork, not
something they’ll sip through a straw. And
as a cook, it is my goal to serve up food my clients and students will enjoy
and benefit from.
At the start of any new year, the most requested cuisine is
healthy and flavorful. So that’s what
I’m going to offer again this year.
Healthy, in that our bodies will derive fuel from and/or use to rebuild
and restore. Flavorful in terms of
taste, complexity and interest. I also
like to include aesthetic value. If the
dish isn’t appealing to the eye, then no one will want to even try it.
We all know good flavor is closely related to
freshness. And freshness is associated
with season. So I’m going Seasonal this
year. Most of our produce is available
to us year round but that doesn’t mean it naturally
grows year round. I’m not going to
go into what our food producers do to produce to make it available to us year
round, but I am going to address what’s in season right now.
And to make things even more interesting, I’ve decided I am
going to go alphabetically. I just did
the math and it works out perfectly!
There are 52 weeks in the year and 26 letters in the alphabet. So each week’s blog will alternately feature
a vegetable or herb then a fruit or herb.
All the while adhering to what’s in season! Not sure what I’m going to do when we hit the
Q’s, Y’s and Z’s, but we’ll have fun figuring it out!
We begin this first Blog of the New Year with the letter
“A,” for arugula. Naturally in season
now, arugula is also known as Rocket,
Italian cress, rucola, or roquette. I read
somewhere the Romans not only appreciated the sprite taste of arugula, they
believed it held aphrodisiac-like properties.
If you haven’t yet tried arugula, it has a rather bitter and
peppery, mild mustard taste and looks like the leaves that grow on
radishes. But don’t be misled by the
boldness of taste, this bright green foliage is delicate and perishes quickly. It’s best used within 2 days after purchasing
or stored in a sealed plastic bag until ready to use.
Think beyond salad green, use it to infuse your oils, it’s
wonderful in soups instead of spinach or sautéed with other vegetables. Since arugula is high in
vitamins A and C, I would suggest
including it in your smoothies and juicing.
Especially if you are looking to add some kick to your cucumber and
green apple blends.
As you can see from my photo, arugula is easy to grow. I keep mine in containers and place the pots
in an open, sunny area of my back patio.
There have been times my harvest has been so abundant I’ve used
arugula in place of basil to make pesto.
This week I’m using my lively emerald green leaves to enhance a simple ravioli
dish and as the co-Star in a salad with grilled peaches. No need for too many ingredients. This time of year, after all that fudge,
cookies, bread, turkey, ham and prime rib, I'mready to follow
the A, B,C’s of clean eating.
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| All we need to prepare the entree and side salad |
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| Recipe for arugula and ravioli to follow |
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