The Melting Teapot

I wanted something light and zippy to go with the Sole we were having for dinner last night.  After a quick look at what we had on hand, I came up with this Strawberry Arugula Salad.  It made my tastebuds very happy, so I made the salad again for today's lunch.

There is no formal recipe, but the necessary ingredients are:

• Arugula (small leaves or "baby" arugula)
• Lemon
• Sea salt
• Strawberries, cut into chunky halves or thirds
• Yogurt, plain or citrus flavor
• Optional: Honey to sweeten yogurt

Toss the arugula with a few squeezes of fresh lemon and a pinch of sea salt. In another bowl, mix the strawberries with a spoonful of yogurt.  To serve, put the arugula on a salad plate, creating sort of a nest.  Add a big scoop of the strawberries on top of the arugula.

The peppery arugula nicely contrasted the tartness of the early season strawberries, and the salad was a wonderful accompaniment to the fish. 

On its own the next day, I added a squeeze of honey to the yogurt to keep the salad from being too sour. This was partly because I was using a rather tangy yogurt, a new product discovered at a nearby grocery store:  siggi’s Icelandic style skyr.

This is an interesting yogurt with lots of natural goodness, live cultures, and only a few ingredients: skim milk, agave nectar, candied ginger, orange extract, live active cultures, vegetable rennet.  In spite of the agave nectar, it is quite a sour yogurt.  It reminds me of the yogurts we made at home when I was a kid, although the siggi is quite a bit thicker in density.

Wine Pairing

There was some Riesling already open in our frig, but that did not pair well at all!  After a couple of sips, I gave up and saved the glass for later.  My hope was that the minerality, sweetness, and petrol quality would provide a counterpoint to the salad.  Instead, the wine absolutely smothered it, making the strawberries taste too green and the arugula too bitter.

I did a bit of research after lunch and found one wine pairing web site that says bitter foods (like arugula) can “combine with the bitterness inherent in oak or from tannins, making oak-free, crisp, light intensity wines an ideal match.“

Next time I make this salad, I’ll open up an Alabarino or Torrontes.  They’re both aromatic white wines with a fresh, crisp taste.  A rosé or dry champagne would probably work nicely, also.