Tag: Arugula

Years ago, when I started to become interested in health and nutrition, I became acquainted with arugula by accident. At the time, admittedly I was not very well educated about leafy greens, given that iceberg lettuce and spinach formed the boundaries of my leafy green literacy.

One day, in produce area of my local natural food store, I bagged several heads of lettuce, finished my shopping and returned home. Later, while making a salad, I discovered that I had mistakenly purchased one bunch of arugula leaves instead of a head of lettuce. I tried it and found that I really liked the mildly spicy flavor. Nowadays, I enjoy arugula occasionally in my salads and smoothies. I especially find arugula to be a salad-friendly leafy green due to the mildly spicy taste and tenderness of the leaf, unlike stronger tasting and more fibrous leafy greens.

Arugula is a member of the cabbage family, making it a botanical relative of kale, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, and cabbage. Like many other members of this plant family, the mineral content of arugula is significant, especially calcium:

	Arugula – 4 cups chopped	Adult Daily Values
Calories	20
Calcium	128.0	1000 – 1200 mg
Iron	1.17	8 – 18 mg
Zinc	0.38	8 – 11 mg
Magnesium	37.6	310 – 420 mg
Potassium	295.2	4700 mg

Considering that 4 cups of arugula contains 20 calories, the content of the nutrients listed above are notable. This sample of arugula also contains 77.6 mcg of folate and 2.06 g of protein.

The arugula plants growing in my yard recently flowered:

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