Two 5 minute arugula salads

What to buy: arugula in a bag, canned salmon, fresh pork loin, avocado, Thai Green Curry Summer Sauce
Where to buy: Trader Joes
Why we approve: arugula has a lot of flavor, and takes a while to chew, unlike other tasteless leafy greens, it is bite sized, and combines very well with any sort of meat; the Thai Green Curry Sauce has healthy coconut fats and adds a lot of flavor for a moderate amount of calories; salmon or pork are a great source of protein

On a recent trip to Trader Joes we picked up a huge bag of their delicious and crip Organic Wild Arugula. Just two cups of it make a great tasting and memorable salad. You can have it at home or take it to work, either way it makes a great meal!

Here are the two salads I had for lunch the last couple of days:

Preparation:

Pork loin honey arugula salad

We always have a piece of meat that we precooked, whether it's pork loin or roast beef. It's handy for a sandwich, to cook stir-fry or to top a salad for a protein rich lunch.

It's easy to slow cook or oven cook a piece of meat once a week, it takes no preparation time and always ends up delicious.

Serves 2:

4 cups arugula leaves

8 oz pork loin (previously cooked)

1/2 avocado

2 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

pinch sea salt

Cut the pork loin in strips or cubes, the avocado in cubes and mix the mustard, honey, olive oil and lemon juice. Put the arugula leaves in a bowl, sprinkle the salt and pour dressing on top. Stir well and serve.

Wild salmon Thai salad

For this salad I used a can of wild salmon and a can of Thai Green Curry Summer Sauce. You can get them at Trader Joes - the wild salmon is a generous can of two servings and the sauce can be used in salads or for cooking. It's mild and creamy and you can really taste the coconut in it!

Preparation: 

Serves 2:

4 cups arugula leaves

6 oz canned salmon (1 can)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp Thai  Green Curry Sauce

pinch sea salt

In a bowl, mix the arugula leaves, salmon, olive oil and sea salt. Mix and dress with the curry sauce. Enjoy with a glass of home made lemonade! Les us know what you do with arugula!

Variations:

You can make either salad with any type of meat or fish you have at hand, including smoked fish, such as lox. You can chop more vegetables, such as cucumber, tomato or pepper and double up on the protein if you are feeling really hungry or your target body weight is relatively high. For example, I want to weight 125 lbs and I shoot for about 4-6 oz of protein per meal. 

Pros: Arugula is delicious and the salads are complete meals.

Cons: It takes about 5 minutes to make each salad and another 5 to clean up, sorry! Try to do it faster or do it the day before to save time!