Simple Winter Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Wednesday, 2 February 2011

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Blood oranges are in season and I love their amazing color. I had the stomach flu a couple of weeks ago, and the worst thing about that (besides the obvious) is not being able to eat good food. I always end up obsessing over something I see on TV, which in the past helped lead me astray from being a vegetarian (burgers just looked too good!). This time, I was haunted by the amazing opening credits of Dexter. If you haven’t seen them, they are a montage of Dexter’s morning routine, including sizzling ham, eggs with runny yolks, perfect French press coffee, and him juicing a blood orange. I was drooling.

When I saw local blood oranges for a good price at the store, I had to get some. They ended up in a simple winter salad with spinach and walnuts. Winter veggies can get very monotonous (I love squash, but you can only eat so much of it), so this salad was a nice change. The blood orange adds a bright citrus note to the salad, while the walnuts add some nice crunch and texture.

I juiced another blood orange and whipped up a simple vinaigrette. It’s a bit on the sweeter side, but not overwhelmingly so. It was a lovely accompaniment to this simple salad.

In the past I made muffins with candied blood orange slices on top, which were also delicious but clearly less healthy. What’s your favorite way to use this colorful citrus?

Recipe:

Simple Winter Salad

2 C spinach
1/4 C walnuts, chopped
1 blood orange, peeled and cut into segments
Blood orange vinaigrette (see recipe below)

Wash and dry spinach. Combine in a large bowl with walnuts and blood orange segments. Toss with vinaigrette until everything is evenly coated.

Blood Orange Vinaigrette

2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T blood orange juice
2 t champagne vinegar
1/4 t agave or honey
Pinch of kosher salt

Place all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour over salad and toss until everything is evenly coated.

The entry 'Simple Winter Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette' was posted on February 2nd, 2011 at 11:30 am and last modified on February 2nd, 2011 at 10:05 pm, and is filed under Gluten Free, Recipe, Salad, Side Dishes, Vegetarian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

13 Responses to “Simple Winter Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette”

Wheels writes:
No. 1 — February 2nd, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Champagne vinegar? That sounds exciting!
Angela@RecipesFromMyMom writes:
No. 2 — February 2nd, 2011 at 3:10 pm
So healthy and colorful!
Angela@RecipesFromMyMom recently posted Spinach gnocchi
Kimba's Kitchen writes:
No. 3 — February 2nd, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Sometimes the best things in life are the simplest things!! Beautiful
Kimba’s Kitchen recently posted Happy Chinese New Year 2011!
Vegolicious writes:
No. 4 — February 2nd, 2011 at 8:51 pm
I love the simplicity of this salad that is made special with the blood orange.

I’d love for your to submit them to Vegolicious, a vegetarian food photo gallery where readers can browse beautiful photos to discover new recipes and wonderful blogs. If you would like to share this recipe with our readers please submit a photo along with a link to this post.
Vegolicious recently posted Mexican Style Beluga Lentils
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective writes:
No. 5 — February 3rd, 2011 at 6:25 am
I love blood oranges and am constantly finding ways to use them. Your salad sound delightful!
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective recently posted HomeGrown’s Collard Greens and Cheezy Grits!
Cakewhiz writes:
No. 6 — February 3rd, 2011 at 2:59 pm
That picture of your orange is magazine worthy! I am sure those juicy oranges added a zesty tanginess to your salad
Tiffany writes:
No. 7 — February 4th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Your blood oranges look amazing! I’ve YET to find blood oranges that are ‘ready.’ I’m jealous! Also, I wanted to let you know that I passed my Stylish Blogger Award onto you!!!! You can see the post at: http://comowater.com/2011/02/04/hummingbird-cake/. Happy Friday!
Tiffany recently posted Hummingbird Cake
Magic of Spice writes:
No. 8 — February 4th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
I love blood oranges and almost picked up some today…wonderful salad
Magic of Spice recently posted Guest Post By Denise Fletcher- Oeuf Cocotte aux Champignons
Stephanie writes:
No. 9 — February 4th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
Thanks everyone!

Vegolicious – I submitted this and a couple of other vegetarian recipes of mine. Thank you for commenting and telling me about your site!

Tiffany – thank you so much for the award! You are so sweet!
Kristi Rimkus writes:
No. 10 — February 5th, 2011 at 9:24 am
I love the simplicity of this salad with big flavor. The dressing sounds wonderful!

Kristi
Kristi Rimkus recently posted Too Much Cauliflower! Cauliflower- Leek and Cheddar Cheese Soup
Kale Salad with Blood Orange and Avocado | Healthy Green Kitchen writes:
No. 11 — February 7th, 2011 at 8:30 am
[...] recipes I think you’ll enjoy: Orange and Fennel Salad from Healthy Green Kitchen Simple Winter Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette from 52 Kitchen Adventures Raw Kale Salad with Pecorino from Kalyn’s Kitchen Raw Tuscan Kale Salad with a Kick from My [...]
The Wholehearted Life › weekend fun 2.12.11 – 2.13.11 writes:
No. 12 — February 13th, 2011 at 11:17 am
[...] to remedy that today by making a recipe I bookmarked at 52 Kitchen Adventures the other day: Simple Winter Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette. The salad was incredibly easy to put together and is definitely going to become a staple in our [...]
Blood Orange Popsicles (Plus Four More Blood Orange Recipes) | 52 Kitchen Adventures writes:
No. 13 — June 29th, 2011 at 10:02 am
[...] I found them for really cheap at TJ’s and made a salad dressing and upside down cardamom [...]