Arugula Salad with Parmesan, Lemon and Olive Oil

Week 416. Spring 2024. I am 41 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like fresh herbs and possibility and this is my life. This is the life I built.

The clinic was busy this week — spring puppies and summer emergencies and the constant, comforting cycle of animals who need care and humans who love them enough to bring them in.

Mason is 13 and navigating middle school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.

Lily is 11 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.

I made garden salad with vinaigrette this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.

Garden salad with vinaigrette is what I make when the week doesn’t need anything dramatic — when the clinic was full and the kids are fine and the house smells like something green and alive. This arugula salad with Parmesan, lemon, and olive oil is exactly that kind of food: peppery and bright and honest, the kind of thing you make with your hands in ten minutes and eat at the table you worked very hard to deserve. It felt right for Week 416. It feels right for most weeks, actually.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

5 oz (about 6 cups) fresh arugula
1/4 cup freshly shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional, for emulsification)

Instructions

Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, Dijon mustard (if using), salt, and black pepper until well combined and slightly emulsified.
Prep the arugula. Place the arugula in a large salad bowl. If the leaves are large, tear them into bite-sized pieces.
Dress the salad. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the arugula and toss gently to coat, starting with about two-thirds of the dressing and adding more to taste. Arugula wilts quickly once dressed, so dress just before serving.
Add the Parmesan. Top the dressed arugula with the shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese.
Taste and serve. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or lemon as needed. Serve immediately on a platter or individual plates.

Nutrition (per serving)

Arugula Salad with Parmesan, Lemon and Olive Oil — The Thread That Connects Every Week