The bitter in the arugula is offset by the sweetness of the Craisins in this Balsamic Arugula Salad. Add in a great balsamic vinaigrette and shaved parmesan cheese and you have a side salad that the family will keep requesting! We have a friend that calls arugula “weeds” because she thinks it looks like something that would grow on the side of the road. We’ve even converted her to liking it with this recipe!

Make the Dressing Ahead

When we’re entertaining, we’ll make the dressing in the salad bowl well before the meal. This makes it much quicker to just add arugula, cheese and Craisins and toss when you’re ready to serve. Take the pressure off when you’re finishing the rest of the meal! There’s no need to refrigerate it when you’re using it later that evening. It’s one more thing to have completed before you start on the main meal!

Really Easy to Make Balsamic Arugula Salad!

Once your dressing is made, it’s just a matter of adding in the arugula, Craisins and parmesan cheese. We eyeball these ingredients, but I’ll give you a ballpark in the recipe below. It changes based on whether I make it or Rene’ jumps in, because she adds WAY more cheese than I do! I really think the Craisins are the magic ingredient to sweeten the bitter flavor of the arugula.

There really isn’t a wrong way to add the extras. Just add the amounts that your taste will enjoy. Just writing this up makes me want to make one of these salads tonight!

Balsamic Arugula Salad

Recipe by HeCooks4Me.comCourse: Recipes, Salads, Soups/SaladsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

Calories

151

kcal

Total time

10

minutes

The bitter in the arugula is offset by the sweetness of the Craisins. Add in a great balsamic vinaigrette and shaved parmesan cheese and you have a side salad that the family will keep requesting!

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Arugula

• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil

• 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

• 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

• 1 Tbsp Honey

• Pinch of Salt and Pepper

• 1/4 cup Shaved Parmesan Cheese

• 1/8 cup Dry Cranberries (Craisins)

Directions

• In your salad bowl, make the dressing by combining olive oil, dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Mix well. You can do this step several hours before dinner.
• Add arugula, Craisins and cheese and toss the salad to combine.

Recipe Video