Arugula Reigns

Sunday lunch time rolled around before I knew it. One of the advantages to the raw food lifestyle is when hunger strikes, satisfaction can be immediate. While instant gratification has been the bane of many of society's current ailments, in this case it has much merit.

With the raw food lifestyle, instant gratification ranks closely with wonderful flavors, good health and super energy — food preparation is fast, and easy on the budget, too.

To please a lunch guest, who isn't into just high water content food, I also provided an interesting take on the turkey dressing that was such a hit last year.

The bread dressing was simply half an Asiago baguette, tossed with a diced onion and a half cup of walnuts. The onion and walnuts were given a light sauté in cultured, organic butter with a generous pinch of dried thyme, salt and pepper to taste.

The stale bread was processed into small chunks then tossed with the onions and walnuts. Place the mixture in an 8" or 9" cake pan, and roast off in a 350° for about 20 minutes. The salad was simply fresh corn kernels cut from the cobs, sliced grape tomatoes and arugula. The tomatoes were dressed with the juice and zest from half a lemon then tossed with the corn and arugula. This salad contained no oil, but a drizzle of olive oil or better yet, walnut oil, would certainly be a nice touch.

Frugal, fresh, fuss-free. . . with richly colored, full-flavored fresh produce just let your imagination run wild. Recipes really aren't needed. The combos are endless and the rewards are great.