Mom’s Simple Prosciutto & Beet Arugula Salad

Oh hi there, you gorgeous salad.

I forgive you for making me scratch my head in frustration over what to name you for the entire time I was writing/editing this post. It’s hard to name something that has so many note-worthy ingredients that I want to keep in the recipe title, yet I also want to underline how simple and easy this salad is to make. I don’t know about you, but whenever I see big and shmancy foreign words like prosciutto and arugula in a recipe, I tend to shrug my shoulders like ehhhhh and head to the freezer to pull out a microwavable meal. I finally settled with my Mom’s Simple Prosciutto & Beet Arugula Salad, but that doesn’t include the yummy balsamic dressing, sweet tomatoes, and feta cheese.

Arghhhhh… the struggles of being a food blogger…

I guess true love (liiiikee the one this salad and I have <3) involves your heart strings being pulled a bit 😉 .

So let’s chat a bit about this salad!

The stars of the show include plump juicy beets, salty prosciutto, peppery arugula, and a stupidly easy dressing. And when I say stupidly easy, I mean it. When I asked my mom to make this recipe for the blog (hi mom!) and to measure how she makes her dressing so I could give you guys accurate proportions, she gave me a skeptical stare. My mom is the kind of cook who never measures anything, so the thought of pulling out the measuring spoons to get a ratio had her rolling her eyes. It involves just two ingredients (olive oil and balsamic vinegar) and, if you’re my mom, you just pour both on until it “feels right”.

This is the salad that has my steak-and-potato-loving dad asking for it exclusively for dinner. That’s a big deal folk! The man grew up on a rural potato farm in the Norwegian countryside, so his tastebuds have come a long way. I don’t want to give you the impression that he knows how to cook (he has yet to master the microwave and could burn water), but he can appreciate a great combination of flavors and texture that makes this healthy salad a winner!

While we love having some prosciutto in this recipe, if you’re vegetarian or aren’t a big fan of it, feel free to leave it out! Serve with some crusty baguette and wine and you’re in for a goooood night!