Arugula Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Everyone should have a go-to, go-with-everything kind of salad in their repertoire. I never feel like a meal is complete without greens, but that doesn’t mean it has to be elaborate. This recipe is just arugula, Parmesan and vinaigrette.

You can make the dressing in advance and keep it in a jar in the fridge. It is light and citrusy with a touch of sweetness to balance it out the peppery taste of the arugula leaves. Make it a few times and commit it to memory. This is one reason why I buy a couple lemons every single time I go shopping.

This salad can be customized. You can toss other things into the bowl like fresh or roasted vegetables, nuts or herbs. Try adding a protein. These additions can be seasonal or a way to turn a salad into a meal on its own.

Salad Ingredients & Substitutions

This is what you need:

• Arugula is not the only type of lettuce for this vinaigrette. You can also toss it with baby spinach, baby kale, a spring mix or pretty much any greens.
• Parmesan is a classic cheese for this salad, but Pecorino is another hard cheese that will shave nicely into it. The best way to slice Parmesan into those thin shavings is to use a vegetable peeler.
• Lemon: There is no substitute for this citrus. Bright and zippy lemon is what you want.
• Garlic: The dressing calls for one minced garlic clove.
• Honey takes a little bit of the sharpness off the vinaigrette and adds a hint of something sweet, which goes well with everything savory.
• Mustard, specifically whole grain Dijon mustard, is in the dressing for two reasons: 1) to add flavor, of course, and 2) to emulsify the ingredients, keeping them together.
• Olive oil:  With any salad dressing, I always use a good extra virgin olive oil.
• Salt & pepper are musts to season the vinaigrette.

Seasonal Salad Additions

As mentioned, this arugula salad recipe is really just the beginning. Depending on the season, you can add other ingredients to it to make it more filling and more specific. Here are a few ideas:

• Spring: Embrace the start of berry season with strawberries and blackberries plus fresh herbs and pine nuts. If you want, you can even swap out Parmesan and use crumbled goat cheese or feta instead.
• Summer: Hello, stone fruit! I love peaches, cherries and nectarines with peppery arugula and chopped walnuts or almonds. Pit them and slice them very thinly. You can also keep it simple and only add ripe cherry tomatoes.
• Fall: Crisp apples and pears are my choice for fruit. Or you can use roasted vegetables like sweet potatoes or butternut squash along with chopped pecans and sliced red onion.
• Winter: Both roasted cauliflower and roasted broccoli are great in this salad. Also look to jarred ingredients like pitted Kalamata olives. I love diced ripe avocado too.

How To Make This Arugula Salad and Lemon Vinaigrette

1. Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk together the arugula salad dressing ingredients including fresh lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, mustard, honey, salt and pepper. You want to make sure they are fully mixed.
2. Assemble the salad. Put the arugula and the shaved Parmesan cheese in a large salad bowl.
3. Drizzle in the vinaigrette, tossing to combine.

Serving

Toss the salad in the dressing right before you are planning to serve it. You can make it in advance, so then all you have to do is toss the salad together. Consider it a bonus to whip up a batch of homemade croutons.

You can add a protein like chicken or salmon to this classic arugula salad to turn it into a main dish and include other extras.

Storage & Leftovers

This recipe makes about 3 ounces of vinaigrette, which is more than what you need for 5 ounces of arugula. A delicate lettuce like arugula does better when you start with it lightly dressed and add more as needed to satisfy everyone’s tastes.

The extra dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days. It will probably become solid in the chill of the refrigerator. Let it sit out at room temperature to liquefy again or run the container under warm water over the sink and shake it around to do this faster.

Again, only toss the amount of arugula you are planning to eat at that specific meal in the dressing. You don’t want to end up with soggy salad leaves.