Weekday Vegetarian: White Bean and Arugula Salad with Lemon Dill Vinaigrette

Photo: Kelly Rossiter

I guess like most home vegetable gardeners, I am having my share of hits and misses this season. Some enterprising little critter ate all of my carrot tops as soon as they started to come out, so that was the end of that. My beets were doing fabulously, but something has started to eat them as well, which I find much more upsetting. My kale is going to be a bumper crop once again this year, and my eggplant, which I'm trying for the first time, has lots of flowers on it. The spinach and arugula are doing fair to middling. I have more than I harvested last year, but the arugula is still a bit delicate. It is however, delicious. There is no way I had 6 to 7 cups of arugula to add to this salad, more like 2, but I found the balance between the beans and the arugula just fine. I didn't have dill, so I added some parsley. Thyme would work nicely with this as well. Leave out the Parmesan cheese and you have a vegan salad. Add a bit of crusty bread and you have a quick, easy and healthy lunch.

This recipe is from Fresh Food Fast by Peter Berley. Here's another delicious bean salad from that book

White Bean and Arugula Salad with Lemon Dill Vinaigrette

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp minced fresh dill
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
Coarse sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 bunches arugula, trimmed and rougly chopped
1 can white beans, such as cannellini or Great Northern, rinsed and drained
1 yellow bell pepper, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
Shaved Parmesan cheese for garnish

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, dill, garlic, and salt and pepper. Add the arugula, beans, and yellow pepper and toss to combine.

2. Garnish the salad with shaved Parmesan cheese and serve.

More Arugula Recipes
Find Your Dinner at the Farmers' Market: Arugula, Goat Cheese and Walnut Salad
Make a Sophisticated Warm Wild Mushroom Salad
Roasted Pumpkin with Arugula and Candied Pumpkin Seeds