Native to the Mediterranean basin and eastward to Turkey and Jordan, rocket has been popular as a salad green since ancient Roman times for its peppery, smoky, meaty flavour. It is an annual plant resembling an open lettuce, with deeply pinnately lobed leaves that are aromatic and peppery. Arugula contains similar compounds to horseradish and wasabi. The leaves add considerable flavour to other salad greens, while the piquantly flavoured, four petalled white flowers can be added to salads. I make a salad of arugula, white radish and tomatoes. The small round seeds are borne in siliques, which are seed capsules that separate when ripe. My rocket that I planted (see below) has self seeded and is now growing wild in my garden.
Plant rocket in full sun in the cooler months, but in midsummer provide some light shade. Rocket is quite unfussy otherwise thriving in average garden soil. Sow rocket in successive plantings each month, from spring to autumn, as it tends to flower fairly easily. If it doesn’t self seed in your garden, carry out monthly plantings to maintain your supplies.
Pick rocket leaves before flowering, otherwise they become more bitter – the same applies for older leaves. Once picked, wash well, and store in the fridge the same way you would lettuce. Harvest the flowers as required for fresh use, and collect seeds when ripe. Rocket is a member of the same plant family as cabbage and broccoli The flavour will change from a tangy peppery flavour if grown in spring and autumn, to a more mustard like taste if harvested during summer. This salad herb goes well with other salad leaves to make a mixed salad. The younger leaves tend to have a milder flavour. Rapidly sauté or steam rocket for use in pasta and risotto dishes, stir-fries, soups and sauces, or to replace basil in pesto. Rocket needs only the briefest cooking. Add a scattering of the fresh herb as a traditional topping for pizzas at the end of baking. The ancient Romans used rocket seeds to flavour oil. The seeds make excellent sprouts and are also pressed for oil.
information sourced from The Complete Book of Herbs
What I blogged:
- one year ago – venison and blueberry casserole
- two years ago – pasta with bacon, chorizo, mushrooms and tomatoes
I love rocket. It adds such a fabulous full depth to a salad.
Have a super weekend Tandy.
🙂 Mandy
thanks Mandy – I hope you did not get more rain – we had so much of it while travelling this weekend 🙂
Rocket is definitely a favourite of mine 😀
Great post!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
thanks Uru 🙂
I adore rocket in salads and cooked down with pasta too! 😀
I’ve always wondered about Rocket. Very informative!
Arugula is one of my favorite greens!
I love it as well! Hope you are safe from the hurricane 🙂
I love rocket, but for some strange reason my hubby hates it. I really wished he liked it. It does restrict my consumption of it a bit.
You can always have a bowl full on the side 🙂
Love rocket. It’s my best green leaf ever. 🙂 I’ve never thought of cooking it. Thanks so much for the info. Have a great weekend.
I have only ever used it cooked on pizza 🙂
Reading gardening posts makes me sad I’m in a highrise. I’ll live vicariously through you!
you could do some pot planting if you had a balcony, or lots of window ledges 🙂
Rocket is one of my favourite herbs!! I love the idea that it is self seeding! I grow mine in a container and I almost always have fresh rocket! Enjoy the weekend!
I need to move some of the plants to my veggie garden 🙂
I love rocket in my salads!
me too Giovanna 🙂
I used to have a little rocket in my garden in SA..I like it as a mixture of greens and not on it’s own!!
it can be a bit powerful on its own 🙂
I love rocket so much but I do find that after it has bolted, the peppery sensation can be a bit much. I have some this weekend that I will probably saute.
You are quite right there Tammy, it seems to get more peppery each wild season 🙂
Love rocket! One of my favourite things, Tandy!
mine too Kate 🙂
Thank you Tandy! Growing vegetables is quite a new experience for me (I used to share a communal patch), I want to grow rocket and this post contains very useful information. ‘harvest the flowers for fresh use’, what can you prepare with the flowers? My panino filling: rocket, tomato and mayo. I look forward to harvest my own rocket…
I have never used the fresh flowers before, so I am hoping I still have some to try when I get home later 🙂
Hi Tandy, I love rocket for that punch of flavour!and I never knew about it’s origins, so thank you. Hope you have a super week 🙂
thanks Claire, and my pleasure 🙂
I love rocket or arugula as it is most commonly called in the states. I wanted to mention that I really like your new header…it’s lovely Tandy.
thank you so much Karen for the compliment 🙂
I can’t wait to have my own little garden—this will definitely be included =)
hope you have fun planning it 🙂
We’ve been trying to grow rocket at home. Fenced everything off but our little foster puppies ruined everything 🙁
I miss having my own produce . Lovely post x
my puppies also damaged the little plants you see here, which is why I was amazed when they popped up everywhere 🙂
I’ll have to try this next year. It amazes me what a little rocket can do to ordinary dishes. I like to add it to plain spagehetti (that I make for the girls) along with a dollop of goat’s cheese — it is so easy but so good!
that sounds delicious Barb 🙂