Arugula Salad with Smoked Salmon, Poached Egg and Lemon Parmesan Dressing

We always have arugula in our refrigerator because, as my husband will happily do with spinach, I have begun to eat it by the handful right out of the bag. I don’t think I can ever get to the point where I eat spinach like potato chips (and good on you if you love it that much) but I feel pretty good about my sincere love for something green, whether plain or dressed.

Another reason I always buy a big box of arugula is so that I can make this salad, which I eat for lunch at least once a week. It is easy to prepare so I don’t have to feel bad for taking a long lunch (an easy thing to do when you work from home!) and the dressing keeps in the fridge for a few days if you want a redux.

Salmon over Walnut Lentil Salad with Tarragon

Wow! It’s been a month since I last posted. I had a lot of life happen in rapid succession — my new FODMAP diet, another momentarily-worrisome-but-probably-nothing health scare (phew!) and really digging in to my dissertation. (That is, after all, half of this blog’s title.)

No matter. I am back with one of my all-time favorite recipes to share. Not only is it bomb dot com delicious, but it’s also a real crowd pleaser. The lentil salad makes a fantastic potluck dish that is sure to delight vegetarians/vegans and carnivores alike. And this is one of my favorite ways to cook salmon. I did a little combination of two trustworthy chef’s recipes, Carla Hall of Top Chef fame and Mark Bittman, to create something that doesn’t take a ton of time but tastes like it does.

Tarragon gets top billing in these recipes, making them perfect to serve side-by-side. Not to mention the nuttiness of the lentils compliment salmon perfectly. I suggest downing the lentils with the salmon all in one bite!

Kale Mashed Potatoes & Homemade Salad Dressing

We got our first box from Washington’s Green Grocer,  a very cool no-contract local food delivery service that is sort of like a CSA but much more customizable. You can pick to have a box some weeks and not others, and also exclude items from your boxes that you know you won’t eat. You can also buy pre-made foods and other items available that week, a la carte style. Hubby and I got a hefty amount of organic apples, bananas, grapefruits, clementines (we LOVE citrus season!), avocados, red leaf lettuce, spinach, kale and potatoes. Am I missing anything? Oh yes, some organic brown basmati rice. We dug right in, making a delicious salad with fresh lettuce and an emulsified dressing otherwise close to impossible without a blender. (I’m finding new uses for my Vitamix every day. I know it might sound silly to post a recipe for salad dressing, as for the most part you can just throw anything along with an oil and a vinegar in to make it delicious. Irregardless…) To accompany the salad we had big bowls of kale mashed potatoes with garlic and buttermilk. What an excellent way to get your greens, especially if you’re put off or intimidated by them. (We aren’t, but what’s nice about this recipe is that you can put as much or as little kale as you’d like.) These are a great accompaniment to a protein-heavy dish or to a lighter side fare, as we did.