Low-Carb Arugula Salad with Artichokes, Peppers, and Goat Cheese

Lots of people who cook from my blog like the Five Ingredients section in the archives, where I share recipes for things that have only five main ingredients or less, and this Low-Carb Arugula Salad with Artichokes, Peppers, and Goat Cheese is great for an easy recipe with only a few flavorful ingredients. I loved this recipe so much that I ate it two three days in a row and decided it was fabulous enough to be my offering for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Anna from Anna’s Cool Finds this week.

I’ve written about arugula before for Weekend Herb Blogging, but it’s been a while. Did you know that it’s also called rocket, garden rocket, rocket salad, rugola, rucola and roquette? Arugula is easy to grow, and will self seed for years. It’s slightly peppery flavor combines well with things that are more smooth in flavor, like the goat cheese in this recipe. Arugula is most often used in salad, but it’s also often combined with pasta, used on pizza, or used to make pesto. It’s low in calories, and high in vitamins A and C.What’s unusual and so easy here is that this salad uses marinated artichoke hearts, and then uses the marinade for the “dressing.” I got the idea from a cookbook that’s more than ten years old, and I’ve found great recipes in this book, Bon Appetit 30-Minute Main Courses. Much to my surprise, you can still buy it on Amazon.com (less than $3.00 for a used copy!)

Drain artichokes, reserving marinade. While testing this recpe I found some brands of artichokes have a marinade with less oil than vinegar/water. You can use only part of the marinade and add some olive oil and balsamic vinegar until it tastes good to you if you need to. Be sure to add a good portion of the marinade for that artichoke flavor.Slice mini-peppers into rings, removing seeds. Combine artichokes, mini peppers, and whichever of the “more” ingredients you’re using with the artichoke marinade or marinade/olive oil/balsamic combination. Let veggies marinate 30 minutes or more if possible. To serve, arrange a handful of arugula on each plate. Spoon over half the vegetable mixture and dressing, and crumble goat cheese over.

This is a perfect salad for any phase of the South Beach Diet. Goat cheese is a “limited” food, so be sure your serving is one ounce or less. (For the one pound loaf of goat cheese I have, one ounce is about one-half inch thick.) If you’re cooking for one, simply marinate the extra portion of veggies in the refrigerator and make a second salad the next day.