Arugula and Fig Salad

I adore arugula. It is crunchy and peppery, good for you, and way more interesting than lettuce. So, any time I see it on a menu, I instantly gravitate towards it.

This salad was inspired by what was probably the tastiest salad I've ever eaten, at a wonderful little restaurant in Sonoma, the girl & the fig. The exact salad had arugula, figs, goat cheese, candied pecans, and pancetta, but I simplified it somewhat for an easy dinner side dish, and added some radichio because it was in my fridge. It had the added bonus of giving it some pretty color, so I think it's worth tossing in if you can find it.

Ingredients

Arugula

Radicchio

Figs

Goat cheese

Dressing

Olive oil

Cider Vinegar

Honey

Salt & Pepper

I didn't really measure anything out, so just eyeball it.

The arugula I used was mostly small leaves, so I didn't chop it. I just tossed it straight into a large bowl. I then chopped up a bit of radicchio and 4 or 5 large fresh figs, and added those.

I made a dressing with approximately two tablespoons of olive oil, a splash of cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and a bit of honey. Wisked that up, and poured it over the salad, and tossed it. Finally, I added a couple tablespoons of crumbled goat cheese. Whenever I use cheese in salad, I always add the salad dressing before the cheese - with the leaves all oiled up, the cheese doesn't clump together as much when you start to toss it, and it's much more likely to stay its white-ish color and not get stained by the dressing.

And voila - easy, gourmet salad.