Arugula is a herbaceous spicy plant with a very original and rich taste. The aroma of walnut, horseradish, mustard and pepper is intertwined in it. The peculiar taste of arugula is due to the content of a significant amount of essential and mustard oils.
Spicy grass is filled with vitamins and trace elements necessary for the human body.
In cooking, arugula is used in salads as a vegetable additive to meat dishes and pasta. It is easy to grow grass, because it is unpretentious and grows quietly without much care. But how to save the resulting crop? Undoubtedly, this is quite a doable task.
How to store fresh arugula
When the amount of fresh arugula is greater than can be used in one day, it should be stored in the refrigerator. Low temperature will allow spicy grass not to lose its freshness for several days.
But in the refrigerator arugula must be put in closed form. Tightness is a must. For storage, choose one of the ways:
- A bunch of grass to wrap with cling film or foil. Press the package so that there is as little air as possible inside. Grass retains freshness for up to three days.
- Place the arugula in a special vacuum container. Inside it can stay fresh for a week or even ten days.
- Put the arugula in a bowl of cool water. Cover the container with cling film. Use in the next three days.
Grass should be stored on the shelf of a refrigerator designed for vegetables. But it should be placed separately from them. It is more reasonable to keep in the fridge the amount of fresh arugula that can be eaten for three days. The rest of the spicy grass is better to prepare for the winter so that it does not disappear.
Long-term storage of arugula
Like most greens, arugula can be:
- freeze;
- dry.
Freeze do so:
- We wash the arugula leaves in cool water.
- Fill the bowl with clean water and add a little salt.
- Arugula dipped in liquid and left for a quarter of an hour. Salt water "expel" from the grass of all insects.
- Once again we wash arugula and dry. The less moisture left on the leaves, the better the plant will freeze. The leaves will not stick together and will not turn into a mash during the subsequent defrosting process.
- We pack a grass on grams 50-60 in separate bags, we turn and we try to remove air as much as possible.
- We decompose the container with arugula in the freezer. We make sure that the temperature inside it is kept at 18 degrees with a minus sign.
Arugula can be placed loosely in special containers.
Frozen weed feels great and is stored for up to a year. Preparation can be used for preparation of hot dishes in the form of the main ingredient. It must be obtained in advance in the right quantity and defrosted on the shelves of the refrigerator (not at room temperature).
Arugula drying process:
- Wash the leaves and place on a paper towel to dry.
- Cut the arugula into small pieces.
- Spread out the grass on clean paper in a warm and dark room. It takes 5-6 days to dry the arugula well. Prerequisite: the room must be ventilated.
- Pour the grass into a glass container, close tightly.
Containers with dried arugula can be stored on the kitchen shelf or in the pantry. The plant will not lose its good qualities and its special taste for at least six months.
Storing arugula with salt
Salted not only cucumbers with tomatoes, but also arugula. The resulting product is great for making salads. It retains a significant amount of microelements and vitamins, although less than in fresh grass.
For salting arugula, you must:
- Go through the leaves, remove yellowed and stained.
- Wash the arugula in several waters.
- Dry on a paper napkin.
- Cut the leaves into large pieces.
- Add coarse salt and mix. For 100 g of rocket you will need a tablespoon of salt.
- Load the product in clean jars and close tightly.
Stored herbs with salt in the refrigerator for up to a year.
When fresh, arugula quickly loses the vitamins it contains. Therefore, do not buy it for future use. It is better to prepare excess greens for the winter. Dried arugula, frozen or mixed with salt, retains most of its “goodies” and rich flavor.
