In Which I Hide Bitter Greens in All Sorts of Foods

My friend, Carolyn, who also belongs to the Fort Hill Farm CSA, once raved about how wonderful it was to get a huge bag of arugula. I smiled and nodded. I like a good arugula salad with Gorgonzola, balsamic vinaigrette and maybe toasted walnuts or sliced fruit on top. The peppery bite combined with some other strong flavors is great, but it's a little more sophisticated than my little guys can handle. Rich isn't too keen on that stuff, either. He likes his coffee light and sweet, and he likes his salads mild.

The big bag of arugula that we received this week was bound to be a challenge.

We received a bag of arugula in our first or second CSA week, and knowing that I would have eat salad around the clock to use the whole thing up, I searched out a recipe. It was "Pasta with sun dried tomato pesto, arugula and goat cheese" or some such clever and concise title. I had to go to the store seeing as how I had a box of pasta and a bag of arugula and hardly any other of the ingredients. A jar of sun dried tomatoes packed in oil cost $5. The tiny little log of goat cheese was $5.29. The recipe called for toasted walnuts, which I had to buy in a 12 oz. bag for $8. I wasn't sure how well the guys would like this stuff; I'm not sure I've ever tried sun dried tomatoes on the kids, so I bought a loaf of sourdough for about 2.50. So I basically had to drop over $20 to make a pasta meal, usually my low budget stand-by.

The recipe called for grinding up the tomatoes, a clove of garlic, the toasted walnuts, a 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, some olive oil and salt and pepper in a food processor. Boil the pasta (I used rotelli) and reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking water to stir into the sun dried tomato pesto. While the pasta and the pesto are still hot, toss the arugula into it so it wilts. Put a slice of goat cheese on each serving.

As it turns out, my boys liked this way more than I did. The cost probably ruined it for me. I am terribly thrifty, and I hate spending too much on food. But really, I think there were too many flavors competing in this dish. I prefer a simpler fare.

I have another large bag of arugula, and I have to find a way to "hide" it again so that the boys will enjoy it. I have a great plan. I'll fill you in tomorrow!