This salad is one of my favorites to serve with any piece of meat I grill on the BBQ. I love arugula for its peppery kick that wakes up your mouth, and I combine it with French shallot for punch, cucumber for freshness and juiciness, and a simple vinaigrette with white balsamic and herbs de Provence. I’ve been making this for years. It’s my own version, not inspired by any restaurant. The combo of white balsamic, herbs de Provence, a good pinch of salt and extra-virgin olive oil is just incredible. My kids are crazy about it to the point where I could serve it to them every day and they’d still love it. Actually, I’ve been eating it for three days straight.<\/p>\n
First trick, the most important one: don’t put TOO much white balsamic vinaigrette, or you’ll lose all the peppery character that makes arugula interesting. This salad is really made to taste. I’ve put the quantities as I roughly make them, but don’t hesitate to adjust them. Aim for about a 1 to 1 ratio between oil and vinegar, but in a HUGE amount of salad. So in reality very little vinaigrette per bite. Second trick: WHITE balsamic, not dark. White is milder, slightly sweet, with a more delicate acidity that doesn’t mask the arugula. Dark works too, but it has a more pronounced character that completely changes the game. I find white in all major grocery stores, so no stress about hunting for ingredients.<\/p>\n
This white balsamic salad is exactly the kind of entertaining recipe that comes together in two minutes while your meat rests after cooking. It beautifully accompanies creamy pasta, grilled fish, homemade pizza, or any piece of BBQ meat. It’s my perfect summer salad, but honestly, I eat it year-round. To transform it into a light meal, add a drained can of tuna for a quick lunch, hot grilled halloumi on top for a Mediterranean combo, or crumbled feta for the salty kick. You can also vary the base by mixing arugula with some fris\u00e9e and romaine hearts, or enrich it with cherry tomatoes, grated parmesan, toasted pine nuts, almonds or walnuts. It’s just a starting point. Make it your own version.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
White balsamic arugula salad with French shallot, cucumber and herbs de Provence. The perfect side dish for grilled meat and pasta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"white balsamic arugula salad","_yoast_wpseo_title":"White balsamic arugula salad","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"White balsamic arugula salad with French shallot, cucumber and herbs de Provence. The perfect side dish for grilled meat and pasta.","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"White balsamic arugula salad","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"White balsamic arugula salad with French shallot, cucumber and herbs de Provence. The perfect side dish for grilled meat and pasta.","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"recipe_category":[165,178,186],"sponsorship":[],"class_list":["post-60186","recipe","type-recipe","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","recipe_category-lunches-en","recipe_category-sides","recipe_category-vegetarian"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n