Baby Arugula Salad & Sourdough Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Friday afternoon lunch and just sinfully delicious. We’re nearing the end of our summer vacation (Ben goes back Monday morning), so this was one of the last of our “beer lunches”—tasty homemade lunches good enough to enjoy with a cold Colorado microbrew (this week it’s New Belgium’s Skinny Dip).

First, I made grilled cheese sandwiches that were just delectable. I started with slices of sourdough Parisienne from Whole Foods (which I’ve been buying to have with runny eggs, a new household favorite), buttered it lightly and filled it with Tillamook medium cheddar slices. Grilled to perfection and served with my new best salad (even better than Benji’s salad!) of baby arugula topped with hearts of palm, quartered cherry tomatoes and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.

I made a similar arugula salad earlier in the week and experimented with a vinaigrette made from a blend of cider and white wine vinegars. Unfortunately, the vinegars just weren’t flavorful enough to compete with the strong peppery taste of baby arugula. It tasted like argula coated in olive oil... there was no vinegar taste to speak of. Yuck.

In rethinking the salad, I remembered having an incredible microgreen salad at Radda in Boulder that had a lemon vinaigrette. Actually, if I remember correctly, the Radda salad was so good that I finished my first one and immediately ordered a second. So, I cruised over to epicurious and checked out a variety of lemon vinaigrettes. This recipe seemed the simplest and didn’t require anything I didn’t have on hand and was truly a perfect complement to the arugula salad. Yummo!

I really enjoy making big salads for lunch because a) they feel so good for you, b) we can get a few veggie servings in midday and c) there are so many steps of salad making that Sophia can help with. She filled the salad bowl with greens, rinsed the tomatoes, helped to prepare the vinaigrette, shaved the cheese with a vegetable peeler, and, of course, generously offered to sample all of the toppings for me. Such a helpful kid! I finally bought myself a simple, beautiful salad bowl several months ago at Crate & Barrel, and I really do believe that salad presentation significantly improves salad enjoyment, particularly at home.

Aunt Susan was teasing me the other day for serving complicated lunches that, in other homes, would qualify as dinners. That, to me, has been one of the greatest joys of this tail end of our summer vacation. We’ve really been enjoying the opportunity to savor three creative, healthy meals a day together at the table. I’m sad that this part of our routine has to end, at least for a few months... Sophia, Joseph and I will of course continue to sup together, but we’ll be missing our Benji at breakfast and lunch.