Rocket Salad with Balsamic Dressing and Shaved Parmesan

Rocket Salad with Balsamic Dressing and shaved parmesan is a classic side salad that you often see on restaurant menus. The peppery, fresh flavour of rocket (arugula) makes it a great side for rich or carb-heavy mains, as well as proteins. It’s super quick to make, and probably my most-made side salad.

Bonus super quick version made with balsamic glaze also included!

Rocket Salad with Balsamic Dressing

This is a very classic side salad that you’ll find on the menu of fine dining restaurants and local bistros. It goes with virtually any Western dish, and is extremely quick to make:

• Balsamic Dressing made with just extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper;
• Rocket lettuce – called arugula in the US & Canada, it’s got a great peppery fresh flavour; and
• Shaved parmesan – just use a potato peeler!

Super quick, classic side salad that requires NO CHOPPING!

What does rocket taste like?

Rocket – called arugula in the US and Canada – is a type of lettuce which has a slight peppery flavour which makes it really fresh with a great bite so it pairs really well with meat heavy mains like roasts, and carb heavy dishes like pasta dishes.

How to make Rocket Salad

Here’s how to make it. It’s very quick and requires zero chopping – BONUS!

ALTERNATIVE: Balsamic Glaze

The alternative way to make Rocket Salad is to use a Balsamic Glaze rather than mixing up a Balsamic Dressing.

This is even faster to make because all you do is drizzle olive oil on the rocket, toss, drizzle with a bit of balsamic glaze, then shave over parmesan. Don’t try to toss the salad in the glaze, it’s too thick, just serve it with drizzles of balsamic over it.

Rocket Salad with Balsamic Glaze takes 90 seconds FLAT to make!

Which Rocket Salad is better?

The Balsamic Dressing version is the classic way to make it, made “properly” because the rocket leaves are properly tossed in Balsamic Dressing.

The Balsamic Glaze version has more intense flavour pops when you hit a drizzle of balsamic glaze. It’s also faster to make – literally 90 seconds of effort. For everyday purposes, I make this Balsamic Glaze version more often! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Rocket Salad with Balsamic Dressing and Shaved Parmesan

Author: Nagi

Prep: 5 mins

Total: 5 mins

Side Salad

Western

Servings4

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Recipe video above. A classic side salad that makes an appearance on fine dining restaurants and local bistros! It goes with virtually every Western dish, with the pepper flavour of rocket lettuce making it ideal to pair with rich meat-heavy or carb heavy mains like pastas and roasts.

Ingredients

• 150g / 5 oz rocket / arugula (4 big handfuls)
• 15g / 0.5oz parmesan , shaved finely using vegetable peeler

Balsamic Dressing:

• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Instructions

• Shake Balsamic Dressing in jar.
• Place rocket in a bowl, drizzle with Dressing then toss.
• Transfer to serving bowl. Shave over parmesan. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes:

Balsamic Glaze Option: Just drizzle rocket with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss. Then drizzle with about 2 tsp balsamic glaze. Transfer to serving bowl, shave over parmesan.

This version has great little intense pops of flavour against the fresh rocket!

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 105kcal (5%)Carbohydrates: 2g (1%)Protein: 2g (4%)Fat: 10g (15%)Saturated Fat: 2g (13%)Cholesterol: 3mg (1%)Sodium: 362mg (16%)Potassium: 138mg (4%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 919IU (18%)Vitamin C: 6mg (7%)Calcium: 104mg (10%)Iron: 1mg (6%)

Keywords: Arugula salad, Rocket salad

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