Arugula, Grape, Parmesan and Pecan Salad with Grape Vinaigrette
Salads have a bad rap of being tired or boring. We should think of salads as a broad category (like meat) with limitless options of vibrant flavors. If you’re thinking you don’t want to eat another salad, you’re doing it wrong.
This arugula salad (slightly modified for ease of making) from Vivian Howard’s Deep Run Roots is a gem because of the actual ingredients and what the recipe teaches us about salads.
I once thought an interesting salad is a complete time suck but it doesn’t have to be that way. This salad is quick and delicious and the best part is it provides us with a salad formula: greens for a base, fruit (or vegetable of interest), cheese for umami and salt, nut (or seeds) for depth of flavor, crunch and salt. The flavors are pulled together with a dressing that includes a flavor in the salad or one that elevates the ingredients. For example use arugula (salad green mix or spinach, figs (dried or fresh) with pecans and ricotta (or goat cheese). Top it off with a cane syrup vinaigrette.
Hosting Tip: Prepare your salad ingredients morning of your dinner. Wash your vegetables, chop ingredients, shred the cheese, and make the dressing. About an hour from salad eating time, remove the ingredients from the fridge. Right before serving the salad, assemble it. This reduces the time away from your guests while keeping the salad fresh.
Grape Vinaigrette Ingredients
1/4 c grape preserves (make sure it’s a high quality one that is more grapey then sugary)
3 Tbl lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 c olive oil
Vinaigrette Directions
In a jar that has a tight fitting lid, add the ingredients and shake. Taste and adjust any ratios.
Salad Ingredients
1/2 c of pecans
2 tsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
8 cups of arugula
1 c of grapes
1/2 c of Parmesan
Salad Directions
Preheat an oven and a small sheet pan or pyrex at 350. Remove the pan from the oven, add the butter. After the butter melts, add the pecans and toss them to coat. Push the pecans together in a single layer. Evenly sprinkle the salt (use your hand and hold it high to get better coverage), and toss the pecans. Spread the pecans out and bake for about 11 minutes. The pecans should be darker in color and fragrant. Your nose is a good indicator of doneness here — once the nuts are fragrant, keep a close eye on them. Taste a pecan (allow to cool for a few seconds) and if doesn’t have a crisp bite, cook a little longer (but careful not to burn them).
Wash arugula and pat dry with a towel.
Wash and slice the grapes in halve vertically (or quarter them if they’re big grapes).
Grate the parmesan.
Lay out 4 plates. Repeat the below for each plate.
Add 1 tsp of dressing to a plate by drizzling it in an outer and inner circle. Take the back of a spoon and run it across the plate a few times.
Add 1 c of arugula. Drizzle 1 tsp of dressing over the leaves. Add 1 cup of arugula and drizzle 1 Tbl of dressing. Scatter 1/4 c of grapes, scatter 2 Tbl of pecans and 2 Tbl of Parmesan on top.
Notes
The original recipe calls for muscadine grapes. I haven’t found those commercially so just use regular grapes. Black grapes are my favorite. But those aren’t always a given so use what you like/can find.
If you’re following a no sugar added diet, look for preserves/jelly/conserves/spread that is sweetened with fruit juice. The artificially flavored ones don’t have enough flavor. The fruit juice sweetened ones are my choice (they even seem to have more flavor than kinds made with sugar).
If you’re the person that never uses preserves, buy a small bottle of grape juice.. Simmer the juice until you have a syrup consistency.
Please don’t use the grated Parmesan in a bottle that is almost like powder. If you don’t want to grate it yourself, buy shredded Parmesan.
Roasted nuts are far superior in taste and texture for a salad than raw nuts. Canned or bagged roasted nuts are not the same as doing them yourself. The couple of extra minutes to roast them yourself is time well spent.
