Lemony Arugula White Beans Salad

For the last day of cooking with lemons, I had planned a sweet treat. I was debating between lemon curd, lemon glazed cookies and lemon tarts. Last Thursday I was flipping channels and saw Giada's show on food network. She made this refreshing lemony white bean arugula salad and I was sold on it's simplicity. I was going to make this salad but wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it for this theme. Since weekend we have been eating too many rich desserts and that sealed the deal for this salad recipe for day 3 of lemons.

We changed the clock this past weekend moving back an hour from day light saving time and that means shorter days 🙁 I was going to make the salad on Monday and before I realized it became dark and had to put it off till yesterday. I was going to make it for lunch but husband called in a sick leave as he was down with flu. I made a hot meal for him and was lazy to make the salad for myself. I also did not want to put it off till today to prepare and click the pictures. I made it yesterday evening around 4 pm and took some quick pictures before the sunset. I still have not gotten used to this new timings yet and I really need to plan my dinners early if I want to click some decent pictures while there is still some decent enough natural light for clicking pictures.

Coming to the salad, I was a little hesitant to try the recipe as I was unsure if I would like arugula in a salad, though I loved it in panini. That was another reason I made it yesterday itself, in case I did not like the salad, it would give me enough time to pick another recipe and cook it today. Fortunately the recipe worked! I followed the recipe as given except for substituting maple syrup with honey. I forgot to mention, after clicking some pictures, I sat down to eat some salad and before I knew, I finished off the bowl! I made half of the original recipe and the recipe listed below is also half the original recipe.

Source: Food Network
Preparation: 10 minutes
Serves: 1 - 2 depending on how it is served

Ingredients:
Salad

• 2.5 oz. (2 – 2 ½ cups packed) Arugula
• ½ can of White Beans, rinsed and drained (Cannellini or Northern beans can be used and 1 can is 15 ounces)
• 1 tbsp. sliced Red Onion, about ¼ small Onion
• 1 ½ tbsp. Capers, rinsed and drained

Dressing

• 1 ½ tbsp. fresh Lemon Juice, about ½ Lemon (adjust to taste, the dressing is lemony)
• ½ tsp. Lemon Zest, zest of ½ lemon
• ½ tbsp. Maple Syrup (I used honey)
• 1 ½ tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ⅛ tsp. Black Pepper Powder (adjust to taste)
• ¼ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)

Preparation:

• Wash and drain arugula. I used pre-washed arugula. Rinse and drain beans and capers. (Make sure beans and capers are completely drained. I thought I drained the beans properly and the minute I added it the bowl of arugula, my arugula become soft and wilted soaking in water that was left in the beans. )
• Take arugula, beans, capers and sliced red onions in a bowl.
• In a separate bowl take lemon juice, honey or maple syrup, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and mix.
• Whisk in extra virgin olive oil to the lemon mixture until smooth and blended in.
• Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.
• Serve it as a side dish or as a main course.

Note:

• The dressing is lemony in taste and I had some leftover dressing after pouring some over the salad. Though it was lemony, I liked the flavor with arugula.
• Drain arugula (if washing; I used prewashed), beans and capers completely before mixing the salad. There was some water in my beans and the moment I added beans to the bowl of arugula, arugula was not as crisp as it was before adding beans.

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