Adventures in Arugula

It all started a couple weeks ago, when Chris alerted me that a certain author (who for the time being must not be named) was going to be signing books at the King's English book shop. Oh, that I could say more! But one of the main purposes in going to said signing was to get a copy of this author's book signed for my sister Katy, whose birthday will be shortly upon us. So as not to ruin the element of "OH MY GOSH!!!!" that will inevitably ensue when this shows up at her apartment, I will say no more. In any case, while waiting for the signing to begin, we decided to head across the street and grab a sandwich at Tony Caputo's. Since my OB restricts me from eating deli meat, I ordered a veggie sandwich that was stacked with arugula.

Imagine, if you will, a 7-month-pregnant woman, sitting on an outdoor patio with her husband, son, and brother, enjoying a very fine evening (a tragic rarity this spring) and a roasted red pepper sandwich piled high with arugula. It had been a while since arugula and I had crossed paths. Maybe it's a pregnant thing. All I know was it hit the spot in a way that maybe only pregnant women can appreciate, and cultivated within me a deep desire to know this green better.

So. Yesterday, as I was making up my weekly menu, I decided arugula had to be part of it. We've had it two nights in a row. And both meals were so very satisfying, I felt selfish and sick at the thought of keeping them to myself. The first recipe, I'm proud to say, I thought up out of my own noggin (sorry I have no pictures):

Open-Faced, Fried Egg Sandwich

1 loaf sourdough bread

1 bag arugula

1 brick parmesan

eggs

salt

pepper

butter

*Fry eggs to your preferred doneness, seasoning with salt and pepper. Slice your bread, toast it, and butter it if you like (I did). Slice thin slices of parm and place them on the sourdough toast. Top with desired amount of arugula. Top that with the fried egg, which, I suppose, serves as a proxy top to this sandwich. It is simple; it is quick. And if you serve it along with some fresh salted slices of avocado and some strawberries, you may just want to kiss yourself for preparing something so entirely satisfying.

The second recipe, courtesy of Martha Stewart, you can find here or here:

(love this book)

*I used arugula instead of mesclun, obviously, and roasted my red potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder rather than boiled them. Between the salad dressing, the greens, and the goat cheese, this proved to have a fairly intense tart-bitter flavor profile, which suited me just fine. So very fine.