Salad Challenge, Day 5: Arugula, Roasted Peppers and Feta

A few days ago I decided to dive head first into a thirty-salads-in-thirty-days-adventure.  I find that my salad repertoire, however tasty, is always rotating around same basic things, so current challenge, in part, is an exercise in beefing up my salad portfolio.  Vegetables are at their peak right now, so what can be better than adding a colorful and hopefully very tasty salad to your daily routine?

Today’s chow is not entirely a spontaneously created recipe, but rather an attempt to reproduce something I really liked at one of the local Mexican restaurants back in Georgia.  They served this salad as a backdrop to an amazingly delicious slice of a grilled skirt steak, but don’t be fooled: the backdrop was so carefully crafted that it could very well have a life of its own.  And so it did — in my kitchen.

First you put down some fresh and tender arugula — a pretty dark green weed with superb walnut flavor.  Add some colorful strips of marinated roasted peppers, if you have different colors that’s even better — a true feast for your eyes.  Then goes crumbled Feta cheese (not too fine).  I had a leftover homemade Dijon vinaigrette dressing to finish. The Mexican place I mentioned served this salad with kiwi-lime based vinaigrette, which was very good. I have yet to figure out what how to replicate that.

The whole thing took, what, 3 minutes total to make. Don’t ever say “don’t have time”.

Arugula, Roasted Peppers and Feta Salad

• 2 cups loosely packed fresh arugula leaves
• 1 whole marinated roasted pepper or an equivalent amount of different color peppers, cut in strips
• 1 thick slice of Feta cheese, coarsely crumbled
• a few very thin slices of red onion [optional]

For vinaigrette:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp red or balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• a splash of lemon juice [optional]

Make a dressing by shaking all ingredients together in a small container. Set aside

Toss all vegetables and Feta cheese together or arrange prettily on your plate. Pour just enough vinaigrette to please your taste buds. Toss together using your hands or salad spoons. Enjoy fresh and cold.