Arugula and Gorgonzola Salad with Balsamic Vinegar - ARF/5-A-Day

Last weekend I was at Costco and they were demo-ing crumbled Gorgonzola in a big tub. The price was ridiculously low, under $6.oo for 24 ounces of crumbled Gorgonzola, and it tasted wonderful, so I bought some. As soon as I got it home I realized that now I have to think of lots and lots of things to make with Gorgonzola, but luckily it's been pretty easy to come up with ideas. This salad was one of the first things I tried, simply a combination that I made up, which turned out to be fabulous.

Use your very best balsamic vinegar to make this; I used a bottle of Fini Balsamic Vinegar de Modena, a brand I've been very happy with. I bought it at World Market and I've also seen it at Williams Sonoma, or you can order it online. Be sure to also use your best extra virgin olive oil. For the arugula I used Earthbound Farms Organic Baby Arugula, something I regularly splurge on at the grocery store. I've found it to be consistently fresh and good, unlike some other packaged salad mixes I've tried. Later in the summer I'll be able to make this salad with arugula from my own garden, but in the meantime, the Earthbound Farms arugula is very tasty.

Since arugula has to be full of anti-oxidants with that dark green color, I decided this was a perfect salad for Sweetnicks ARF/5-A-Day, the food blog event every Tuesday where she encourages us to get creative with ways to eat more veggies, fruits, and anti-oxidant rich foods. Be sure to visit Cate later tonight to see all the great recipes that people send in.

Arugula and Gorgonzola Salad
with Balsamic Vinegar
(2 servings)

3 ounces baby arugula (about 3 handfuls)
1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola (or less, to taste)
1 -2 T extra virgin olive oil, or enough to coat arugula
1 T best quality balsamic vinegar (or less, to taste)
salt/fresh ground black pepper

Place arugula in a large bowl (a plastic bowl big enough to toss it in, not the bowl you are serving it in.) Drizzle over a small amount of extra virgin olive oil and toss arugula well, until pieces are well coated with olive oil. (I start with a small amount of olive oil, toss, and then add more if it doesn't seem to coat all the lettuce.) Drizzle small amount of balsamic vinegar over arugula and toss again. (Again, I start with a small amount, then taste the salad and add more if it needs it.) Season salad with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Arrange salad on two serving plates and sprinkle gorgonzola over.

This salad is a perfect side dish for any phase of the South Beach Diet, and when I checked the label I was pleasantly surprised to find that the cheese has only 8 grams of fat in 1/4 cup. This would be fantastic served with Grilled Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar or Pork Chops with Balsamic Glaze.

Now, if you've been paying attention, you realized that I've only used four ounces of my 24 ounces of Gorgonzola in this salad, but here's another great idea for how to use some of it. Surfindaave, The Serendipitious Chef posted a recipe for Spagetti with Gorgonzola Sauce yesterday that sounded wonderful to me. Just be sure to use Dreamfield's spagetti if you're doing The South Beach Diet. Dave always comes up with great sounding recipes, and this is one I'll be sure to try!

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