I love it, and just planted some a couple days ago. From the first bite I ever took, I was hooked. I know people usually like to add a bit to salad greens to perk them up, but I go the other way and generally just add bits of salad greens to my arugula to stretch it so that it'll last longer.

My favorite way to eat it is with a light homemade lemon vinaigrette with maybe some cherry tomatoes and goat cheese. Oh my stars. Heavenly.

Too bitter/pungent to me...and no, I didn't have bad/bolted/warm-season arugula. It's always been too "sharp" tasting for me.

I'm also one of those people that cilantro tastes "soapy" to.

I love it. Like spaghetina I think it goes great with citrus flavors. Just a lighjt dressing of lemon and olive oil is great for a salad.

Or I make pasta with a lemon cream sauce and toss arugala in it.

I use it in steaksandwiches to add a peppery bite.

I just harvested a bunch of seeds from my summer harvest and replanted some a couple weeks a go.

Yes! In sandwiches, I forgot all about that. I toss whatever ingredients I have in between a couple pieces of sourdough, stuff it to the brim with arugula, drizzle on some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a little salt, then squash that thing in a panini press, and feast on sandwiches.

Cripes... now I'm hungry.

It's a spicy green that is wonderful on sliced steak and blue cheese sandwiches...and on brie and peach paninis...yum

Also meant to say ~ fresh cracked pepper, honey, and olive oil are a must in the Brie-Peach-Arugula paninis. ...need to eat cheese now!

Or a flatbread with arugala and carmelized onions.

Or a salad with roasted baby potatoes and a balsamic vinagrette.

Great hor d'oevre: roasted tenderloin thinly sliced on sliced french bread, tapenade spread and arugala. Super easy but yummy.

Can u tell I love arugala?

The first time I tasted argula I couldn't stand the taste, but everybody kept raving about how good it was! so I gave it another shot... this time it wasn't so foreign tasting and thought not so bad after all, now I crave the stuff and always let some go to seed.

Aragula in August must be pretty spicy. I like them in cooler weather.

I discover aurugula by accident. This past spring I bought a seed package containing various salad greesn (differen lettuce etc)
There were aurgula and some type of mutard. I loved both.
I let couple of them go for seed. They did and I collected my own seeds.
Now I have some growing for the fall.
Aurugula, as pointed out, is a spicy green, a bit peppery.
It can add a lot of zest to tossed salads, sandwiches,..
garnish.
cyrus

Like nc-crn, I too think cilantro tastes like soap so I use it very sparingly. Arugula though, is definitely delish! Tossed into salads or made into a tasty pesto! I like the peppery flavor.

Arugula is also terrific cooked. I like it sauteed in a bit of butter.

I love arugula! Doesn't taste spicy to me though - I think it has a nutty flavor.

I too love arugula. Its good on pizza as well! yum yum

Damon

I love arugula, and used to order an arugula salad in my favorite northern Italian restaurant before it closed. Cilantro, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game. That stuff tastes like soap to me, and I just can't abide it. I wonder if it's a genetic thing, like whether eating asparagus makes your pee stink. (About 40% of the population have that gene, apparently... I got mine from my mother!)

I thought I read somewhere about people who are "super tasters". They were able to taste some chemical that a lot of other people weren't able to detect, and there was some correlation between being able to taste that chemical, and cilantro tasting "soapy". Or maybe I'm totally mixing up my information because I probably read it all while half asleep, lol.

I do think that certain kinds of cilantro, along with growing conditions, affect the taste and produce "soapier" bunches. In general, I LOVE it. Can't get enough of it in any dish it's added to, but there have been times when I've picked up a foul bunch that was so strong and soapy that I could barely eat it.

Sure, certain veggies, fruits have peculiar smells.
I shop at Korean/Chinese market and try all kinds of veggies. Some of then taste and smell offensive to me. But there are lots of people who love them, maybe just because of that small and taste.
Sometimes ago I took a dorian to my brothers house.
A nephew said that it smells like kerosine. I never felt that way. Later I read, on the net, that infact dorian does have that smell. So you have to open it way before serving and let it air to get rid of that smell.
With the cilantros, after you pick it maybe you should let it air awhile before eating.

Cilantro (coriander, fresh and dried seeds) is an important ingredient in a multitude of cuisines! ~ Indian, Middle Eastern, African, Mediterranean, Asian, Southwestern, Mexican, Latin American...

In my opinion, the dislike of cilantro is mostly psychological:

Some people are more suggestible than others. If you have been told that Âcilantro tastes like soap, you may go into a food experience with certain preconceived notions. You may say to yourself Âthis is not going to taste good, or itÂs going to taste like soap. Therefore, you have already made your conclusion. Once you conclude it's going to taste bad, your experience will line up to confirm your expectations. In other words, you have already set yourself up for disappointment.

This happens often with all sorts of foods. (You probably notice it often in children.) Most people are not aware itÂs happening. The mind is a very powerful thingÂ

So give cilantro another try! (Or arugula...or any food that you -think- you dislike, for that matter.) Instead, focus on how the freshness and brightness of the cilantro compliments and balances the other flavors of the dish, and how it makes the dish complete. Try to be more open-minded about new food and flavors. Hopes this help! :-)

~Caroline

Durian... oh my. It really does smell like rotting onions, but it tastes so good. The texture is creamy and smooth, and ok, the flavor is a little.... weird, but it's one of those things that smells horrific, and tastes heavenly.

I agree with star about how powerful suggestions can be. If you're told to look out for a particular flavor or characteristic of something prior to tasting it, chances are you'll taste it, but as far as cilantro goes, there really are some plants/varieties that taste soapy, lol. I swear it, and I love the stuff!

Even if Âtastes like soap is not suggested some time beforehand, as you eat cilantro, or anything new, you will probably be inherently searching for some reference point of comparison. Humans are pattern-seeking animals. Once the word Âsoap is applied to the experience, it will be hard to separate this first impression. To get rid of the association (if it has negative effects for you), I would try to envision a different descriptive word during your next tasting of cilantro, such as Âfresh, Âgreen, Âvibrant, Âcrisp, Âclean, or Âbright. And also think of how cilantro serves a similar purpose as parsley or lemon to freshen or finish a dish.
:-)

Spagh

I love the taste of durian as well. So creamy and complex. I haven't had it in a couple of years but may need to make a trek to the asian market to get some now.

Young ones are better than old arugula. I eat it for medicinal reasons or it would not be my first choice of greens.

I prefer it as part of a salad mix rather than by itself.

Tastes best as a young green in early spring.

Maybe try changing the composition of the soil you're growing it in. Try growing it in good organic soil with some bone meal and greensand thrown in.

Bull! Cilantro tastes like soap to me and tasted like soap before I even knew what it was. I can envision that blue cheese doesn't smell like someone's dirty gym shoes but that's what it smells like to me. So therefore, there will be more cilantro AND blue cheese for the rest of you.

PJ - how do you know what gasoline tastes like?

LOL. Blue cheese is another of those things that taste way better than they smell. I wouldn't eat it for the longest time, partially because of the smell (I feel the same way about the smell of parmesan... it smells like vomit to me, but I love the taste!) and partially because the veins of mold just skeeved me out. Then I had a piece of gorgonzola on a pizza, and I've loved it ever since.

Spag,
I can handle the gorgonzola on a salad, but Roquefort and that other Danish or whatever it is, is absolutely disgusting. Talk about smelling like vomit....YUCK! I just can't get past it and I'm pretty open to just about anything to try at first. Parmesan on the other hand hasn't been as offensive for me.

PJ - I still want to know how you know what gasoline tastes like.

Has anyone ever tried cream of arugula soup or the variations of it? Next season, I'm going to try a few of the recipes. I made some cream of roasted poblano soup and it was absolutely divoon!

http://eatoutsidethebox-gail.blogspot.com/2009/03/cauliflower-and-arugula-soup.html

I've never made any kind of soup with arugula, but now that I've seen that recipe, I'm sure going to try! I also just looked up a couple really simple cream of arugula recipes, and since I love cream with anything as a general rule, I'd like to give those a try too. Only one of my arugula plants is big enough to steal even one leaf from right now though, so it'll be a while before I'm making anything with it.

I have been picking big bowls of arugala every day. My spring crop went to seed and I have arugala everywhere. It grows like a weed. I have a 4 x 2 foot patch in the raised garden and just found. 2 x 2 foot patch on this dirt mound that should be ready for picking in 2 weeks so I am def gonna try some of these recipes

Ahh, Tammy, I'm jealous! I keep tapping my foot, waiting for mine to get big enough to harvest some leaves from. What I don't understand though, is how the stores get "baby arugula". My leaves are beyond the baby stage already, and the plant is probably only 5" tall. I'm hoping that at some point, they get big enough that the main portion is large, but I can still get my hands on smaller leaves that are growing out.

In the summer it will taste like gasoline. In March in Michigan, when it is the only thing in the garden save for garlic shoots, it tastes like heaven.

It is strictly a winter/fall/spring vegetable, with most of mine going in lettuce/radicchio/arugula mixes. Although one can use it sparingly in the summer, for example on top of prosciutto, with olive oil and shaved parmesan, or in a salad with cherry tomatoes, tuna and capers, or just with white beans and olive oil, or in a smoked fish sandwich, and yes, with any mild cheese. Its peppery taste lends itself to a lot of mixed recipes. It is also very nutritious.

Spahgetina

When I pic I get both baby and mature arugala and I eat them in a salad no problem. Sometimes I feel like the baby leaves are too fragile so I actually prefer them past the baby phase.