Arugula, Pear, Almond and Gorgonzola Salad

If you've never eaten arugula, here's a wonderful simple way to try it!  It tastes like lettuce (slightly bitter as all salad greens are) but spicy-hot and slightly sweet, kind of like wasabi.  The pears complement the arugula's flavor nicely, and lighten it up.  The nuts provide salty crunch and richness, and gorgonzola is the perfect tangy finish.

For each person:
One large handful of arugula leaves
One handful of roasted almonds, chopped
Half a pear
1-2 Tbs crumbled gorgonzola or any tangy crumbly cheese
Vinaigrette salad dressing (I love Paul Newman's Balsamic, or Girard's Champagne Vinaigrette)

Arugula is also fantastically easy to grow. Currently it is growing like a weed in my garden (self-seeded volunteers) with zero watering, in the freezing winter temperatures of New Mexico. Throw a few seeds out in your yard and see what happens...

I am getting so excited for spring - we just built new raised beds to plant peas, beets, turnips, carrots, radishes, kale, parsnips and rutabagas. Peas are one of the first vegetables to plant in spring, they are so frost-hardy, I probably should have planted them weeks ago! You can see the arugula growing there by the left corner.