I hardly find Arugula in the market these days. All the good stuff is siphoned off by restaurants and we are literally left with little or none of this zingy, peppery, salad leaf. So every time I want to eat Arugula or Rocket, I need to go to a fancy restaurant and order their over-priced salads. I know a lot of friends with green thumbs who just scoff at the idea that I don’t grow my own arugula. According to them, it is insanely easy to grow – almost like a ‘salad leaves for dummies’ kinda thing. Unfortunately none of them realize that I have managed to kill even the most resilient cacti, given enough time!

In such a scenario, I have no option but to wait longingly for those rare days that Arugula makes its appearance on the shelves of Namdhari or GNB. A fairly recent development is the abundant stocks of imported Arugula lining the GNB counters. Unfortunately at more than 300 bucks a box, it doesn’t warrant easy picking up! Last week, I was hell bent on a Caprese Salad on a bed of Arugula leaves for a dinner party, so reluctantly picked up a box, whilst dutifully ignoring the price. The produce however was top notch and after emptying out the box in a salad spinner – I realized that the quantity was great as well. There was still a quarter of the box left the next day and that’s how this salad got made.