The other night I had dinner at Westville in the East Village and ordered what is now my new staple salad. I had forgotten how delicious something as fresh as arugula, lemon, olive oil and parmesan is.  I ordered it with some grilled chicken and it was the perfect no fuss, light but fulfilling meal.  So perfect, that I was inspired to make it for lunch the next day.  I knew this leafy green was good for you, but I wanted to do a little more research to find out exactly what was so great about arugula aside from its unique, slightly spicy flavor.

It turns out arugula is packed full of many vitamins and minerals including calcium, iron, potassium and vitamins A, C and K and folic acid just to name a few.  Another great benefit of arugula is its aid in cancer prevention.  It is a cruciferous vegetable which studies have found are an important food when it comes to cancer prevention due to various properties.  Arugula is also a great source of chlorophyll which helps to cleanse and energize the blood.  You can read more about the benefits of arugula here.  This is also a great article on the benefits of all cruciferous vegetables.

To make this fresh arugula salad, just toss together a medium bowl of fresh arugula (I like baby arugula), toss in some grilled chicken or protein of your choice and drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil.  Squeeze in the juice of one lemon (half a lemon is usually enough but I love lemon) and shave some fresh parmesan on top.  Add salt and pepper to taste.