Talk about a lettuce with a kick! Arugula is something fierce. I’m not a huge fan, to be honest, but if it’s amongst other greens I don’t mind it.
But like I mentioned before, we got a ton from our neighbor, so I had to figure out something to do with it. I think it’s best paired with meat, but that’s not an option for me, so I cooked it into a couple of veggie stratas. The first went with Kyle on his drive to Colorado. The second I made for myself.
Arugula Tomato Strata [vegetarian, gluten free, FODMAPs friendly]
Ingredients:
- 1 handful arugula, ripped into bite sized pieces
- ~10 cherry tomatoes (or 1 large tomato, diced)
- 3 pieces Udi’s gluten free bread, ripped into bite sized pieces
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup lactose free plain yogurt (or goat’s milk yogurt)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- [optional] dried herbs: basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme
- salt & pepper
Directions:
Combine tomatoes, arugula, and bread in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, oil and water (it doesn’t have to be perfectly uniform). Fold liquids into the bread and veg (along with herbs of your choice).
Pour into greased baking pan (I used a medium sized [8”x6”] pyrex so double it for a larger casserole dish).
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Broil for an additional 1-3 minutes if you want a crispy top.
Let it cool so the center sets.
Enjoy.
Check out all that arugula!
Happy to report I’m still enjoying the Green Valley organic lactose free yogurt (long name much?) without any symptoms. It’s hard to explain how much this is blowing my mind. I never even considered lactose free products in the past, but I seem to tolerate them just fine! I’m shocked and excited and confused all at once. But mostly I’m just excited. I have big plans to incorporate more lactose free and goat’s milk products into my diet, slowly.
What a delightful piece of strata. 🙂
I served myself half of the pan, but I ended up eat the whole thing in the end. I think this recipe is probably enough for 2 people, but my serving sizes are not exactly the norm.
In this recipe, the arugula was used exactly as it should be – offering lots of flavor to an otherwise simple and clean ingredient list.
Notes:
If you don’t need a gluten free recipe, you can use wheat bread, but since Udi’s slices are so small, you will probably only need 2 slices of normal bread.
Any green could be swapped, but I recommend adding in fresh or dried herbs if you sub another green for the arugula.
Using garlic infused olive oil brings extra flavor to the dish while still keeping the recipe FODMAPs friendly.
Gluten free and FODMAPs friendly deliciousness.
I still had more arugula to use up, so I thought it might be good in pesto.
Well guys. That was probably not a good idea.
Holy crap arugula should not be eaten in such packed proportions. Sorry Popeye, spinach is a breeze. You should look into arugula for some real power!
I’m going to have to use this pesto spread in very small amounts. I’m thinking as a topping on pizza…or mixed into quinoa or pasta with lots of other veggies.
It’s strong stuff, for sure. But if you’re an arugula fan, this recipe is for you.
Walnut Arugula Pesto [vegan, gluten free, FODMAPs friendly]
Ingredients:
- 1 cup firmly packed arugula leaves
- 1 cup raw walnuts
- 6 large basil leaves
- 4 sprigs of parsley (the leaves from them only)
- 1/4 cup olive oil (I used garlic gold’s garlic infused olive oil)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt (+/- to taste)
Directions:
In a food processor, pulse leaves (arugula, basil and parsley). Then add in walnuts and olive oil and pulse again. [You may have to scrape down the sides intermittently.]
Finally add in the nutritional yeast and water and pulse again until mixed.
Adjust the texture as you want by adding more olive oil. Salt to taste.
This is like the most intensely flavorful pesto ever. It’s strong but then it grows on you. The first taste I had packed some mega bite, but that was straight up from a spoon.
Notes:
To make a less powerful pesto, reduce arugula and swap in another green (or more basil and parsley).
If you don’t care about FODMAPs, try adding in 1 tsp minced garlic.
If you aren’t a walnut fan, any nut will do (pecans and almonds are some of my favorites in pesto, but hemp seeds are another yummy twist).
I have home-made pizza plans for it, but if you have other recipe ideas send em my way…
The strata looks heavenly. Thanks for the easy, fodmap friendly recipe. Just a note, though, the Green Valley lactose free yogurt is made with cow’s milk, I believe. At least according to their website
http://www.greenvalleylactosefree.com/li/faqs.php?c=1&q=4. So maybe you can tolerate other lactose free products, like the cottage cheese they sell in stores!!!
Haha I actually love arugula! There was an arugula salad as on of the courses at my cousin’s rehearsal dinner Friday night and my grandmother and I were raving about it!
I benefit from looking at your website. Many thanks!
arugula, is that the same as rocketlettuce? if so, you can mix it with mashed potatoes (i liek it rough.. mashed potatoes, i mean) and some sundried tomatoes. maybe with a hint of oliveoil, nutmeg, salt, pepper… try some walnuts or pine nuts… veggies mashed with potatoes make a traditional dutch meal, calles stamppot. this is summer version.
Love your site! Thank you for posting Low fodmap recipes. 🙂 I’m prego with me second and I was wondering if you did anything extra to help with constipation?
And also…I don’t know if this is a weird question. But do you find yourself always thinking about your IBS? I feel like I’m constantly thinking about it.
I love arugula, but my husband isn’t crazy about the bite. I always lightly steam his and top with lemon juice, or I will toss it with pasta. My favorite way to eat it is stirred into hot, fresh, creamy polenta (seasoned with nooch and Italian spices) and then topped with a fried egg. So good! I will even eat it in the dead of summer, but it’s best in the “winter” (insofar as LA has one).
Yay! I have been looking forward to that strata recipe! A bit dorky of me, huh? 😉
This pesto sounds wonderful! I love pesto, its such a great topping for most anything. I love it on pasta, salads, eggs, and sweet potatoes.
Ha– I made pesto with dandelion greens for exactly the same reason! It was great with pasta and a handful of Daiya shreds to bulk it up, but man-oh-man do those bitter greens make a pungent pesto!
I’m a huge fan of arugula pesto, but the last time I made it I also added in some basil and that was lovely. For those who aren’t yet accustomed to the strong peppery (but at least not bitter!) flavor of arugula, mixing is the way to go. I have some arugula in my garden that needs to be used, so I think I’ll do this strata soon. Thanks for the recipes!
Lately I’ve been making pesto with mostly avocado instead of all olive oil. we’ve been calling is guacesto and it is so good! pesto makes everything better
Haha–I am not a huge fan of arugula myself–I don’t dislike it, but I don’t seek it out, either–and when I saw you write that you made it into pesto, I cringed. That has got to pack quite the peppery strong punch! I can handle it mixed into salads with lots of other greens like romaine, spinach, kale, etc. Pizza is another good option for using it up, and I think it might be good in a grilled “cheese” and tomato sandwich?
Courtney
Thanks for posting the strata recipe, I was waiting for it! On a totally different note than this post, what rice cooker do you use or recommend? I don’t have one and looking at picking one up.
Also not related to this post, I made the Cold Quinoa salad and the Peanut Soy Dressing this weekend. Both were great! Thanks for the recipes.
Hi Elise!
I’ve made this recipe many times and I love it! Swap the pesto for your arugala walnut pesto! And since you’ve recently been introduced to goat’s milk, hopefully you’ll love goat cheese too! http://www.eatliverun.com/grilled-pesto-and-goat-cheese-pizza/
I was going to say this as well. I have had the yogurt and the sour cream in the past and it was cow’s milk. Their website says it’s cow’s milk too. I was wondering if they maybe make a speacial goat’s milk version that we just don’t get here in TN. I tolerate it fairly well too but never overdo bc I am still afraid of at what level it may “backfire” on me. Glad to know you’re tolerating it well!
I love arugula and I love stratas even more, so that baby was made for me! I’ve been loving goat’s milk greek yogurt– I actually prefer the taste to cow’s milk.
thanks for the info! not sure how i missed that but i bought the lactose free yogurt at the same time as i bought their goats milk kefir so i probably got confused. i only had the yogurt in the strata (so far), but i tried a sip of their goats milk kefir. scared to test more because im trying to go slow and test one thing at a time…
🙂
It’s really deceiving as they feature goats on their homepage? Tell us how you do with the goat’s milk kefir! Have you tried goats cheese yet?
it definitely has a distinct taste. i think its good in salads too.
yes, i think theyre the same thing.
i loooove it mixed like that w potatoes and olive oil. kinda like a potato salad…good idea adding pine nuts. im gonna look up stamppot now 🙂
TONS of fluids.
you have to actively make sure you dont let IBS take over! (bc yes, it can)
omg, creamy polenta w a fried egg sounds amazing!!!
yes! dandelion greens would be so similar i bet. definitely need daiya and pasta to diffuse the bite!
i definitely agree. next time i could use a bit more basil i think, but this is still good. just needs some pasta now 🙂
oooo, delish!!! avo sounds dreamy in pesto 🙂
grilled cheese – yum!
zojirushi
http://www.hungryhungryhippie.com/readers-request-rice-cooker-101/
glad you liked the quinoa salad and dressing 🙂
mmmmm…delish. great idea.
yes! i have tried the redwood hill goat milk smoked cheddar – http://www.redwoodhill.com/artisan-cheese/goat-milk-cheddars
its really tasty and i tolerated it great (!!) – full disclosure, i ate it in really small amounts. i think i do okay w goats milk which i have heard is really common bc goats milk is really really really low in lactose, but ive only tried the aged cheeses so far (as they are said to have basically no fodmaps and lactose), nothing soft or fresh because those are more likely to have higher lactose content. at least thats what ive read. have you ever tried soft goat cheese?
mmm I love a good strata! and i’m with you on the arugula….too spicy for me!
Over here arugula is called Rocket. The name fits!
oh, curious what you find. please not that most stamppot recipes are winterdishes. extra yummie after a day of iceskating in the open air, or when you come home after biking from work/school through the snow. in the older days the extra calories were needed, nowadays we simply make them less heavy.
It’s AMAZING! And my husband hates polenta, so I never have to share. Bah ha ha!