Arugula Salad with Dates, Almonds and Cheese

I spent my long weekend in Boston with my parents and my sis and her hubby. It was a nice mini-vacation :) filled with lots of wonderful cooking!! Much of it done by my brother-in-law who is a great cook. The downside, however is that he doesn't really follow recipes, so I have nothing  to show for on the blog on that front. I do have some other new recipes to share.
Because shipping is 1230912890 times better and cheaper in the States, we ordered several things from amazon that were waiting for us upon arrival. All I will say is that this time, I wasn't the one who ordered 3 pairs of shoes.. At any rate, among our goodies was the cookbook, Plenty,  a vegetarian cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi. After loving every recipe made from Jerusalem, co-authored by Ottolenghi and Tamimi and recommendations from friends, we were eager to try out some recipes. I know my vegetarian cousin will be glad to see some veggie recipes- looking at you JB. The original recipe calls for sheep cheese, but says you can substitute with buffalo mozzarella, which is what I used. I'm sure Bocconcini would work too.This recipe may be slightly modified, as I don't have the cookbook with me at the moment. 

Ingredients:
- 4 cups arugula
- 2 Tablespoons almonds (this isn't a lot so feel free to add more)
- 6 medjool dates, pitted and sliced
- a few springs fresh dill (I omitted because I didn't have any)
- basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- pomegranite molasses or ( honey, or maple syrup with lemon juice and 1 tsp vinegar) - where the heck does one get pomegranate molasses? please let me know!! 
- 4-5 ounces of sheep cheese or mozzarella, sliced
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions 
- Toast the almonds for 10 minutes at 300 degrees, then chop. The toaster oven proved great for this, but a regular oven would work too.  
- Combine the Dressing- oil and molasses or honey
- When you are ready to serve the salad, put the arugula on the plates and top with the dill, basil, dates, cheese. Drizzle dressing over top and then add almonds.

Enjoy!!

I usually serve a salad in a nice glass or wooden salad bowl and let people help themselves, however I like the presentation of serving it directly on the plates. This has inspired us to experiment with this style a bit more.

What is your serving style? Do you serve meals directly on the plates, or  family style on platters or casseroles? Please share your tips with me!