Citrus Blossom Salad

Citrus Blossom Salad with Walnuts + Feta

In the middle of winter, most salads fail to hit the spot because the produce isle is generally sad and farmers markets are closed (though this roasted sweet potato and kale salad is usually a good bet). Around January citrus finally hits the shelves, freshly picked and shipped from warmer climates. It’s in that window that this salad should take the spotlight, a perfect stage for citrus varieties you can’t easily find other times of the year.

Orange flower water adds a subtle, elegant twist to the vinaigrette in this recipe (and also how it got its name). It smells incredible and one bottle will last you forever (plus, you’ll be one step closer to making baklava).

Citrus Blossom Salad with Walnuts + Feta
Citrus Blossom Salad with Walnuts + Feta

Serve this salad with with roasted chicken, a panini, or a warm stew like tagine to make a meal.

Citrus Blossom Salad

Published January 4, 2021 by
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Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 15 minutes



Ingredients:

  • 1 head tender romaine lettuce, washed and spun or patted dry
  • 3 oranges (for a fun pop of color, mix-and-match a variety of oranges: cara cara oranges for pink, blood oranges for deeper red, valencia/navel for traditional orange)
  • ¾ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
  • 1/2 cup feta crumbles
  • 1 tablespoon minced parsley leaves
  • Optional: Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

  • For Orange Blossom Vinaigrette:
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon Orange Blossom Water (affiliate link)
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

  • Directions:

    1. Arrange lettuce on 4 plates, optionally tearing with your hands to remove any tough stem pieces.
    2. Segment the oranges by slicing off the peels with a knife, and then carefully cutting segments out from between the pith. It can be helpful to do this over a bowl, to catch any juice. Reserve the left over pieces — we’ll use them to make the vinaigrette. Here is a good video on how to do this. Arrange orange slices over the lettuce.
    3. Sprinkle walnuts and feta over each salad, and sprinkle with parsley.
    4. Prepare vinaigrette: Squeeze as much juice from the remaining orange pieces into a bowl. Add salt, orange blossom water and olive oil, and whisk to combine. Drizzle to taste over salads.
    5. Top with freshly cracked pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

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    Fall Black Rice Salad

    Fall Black Rice Salad with apples, bacon, pecans, arugula

    Less than 2 weeks until Thanksgiving — though it feels like March was yesterday. In the spirit of the season, I thought I’d use this post to remind myself (and hopefully others!) of the positives. This week I’m thankful for:

    • How so many people showed up and voted for change and inclusivity in the US this month

    • Snow, which has helped combat Colorado’s wildfires, and reminded me that fall is really here, even though this year has gone by in the blur

    • Fall cooking and baking. Favorites this week, were: this wild rice salad, tahini rice crispy recipe from Bon Appetit, quiche, Massaman coconut curry with tofu, sourdough focaccia, and miso braised greens. Next week I’d like to make cranberry hand pies and a pear coffee cake!

    • The upcoming holiday break — while it certainly won’t be a “normal” Thanksgiving, it will be nice to have a break and unplug

    Fall Black Rice Salad with apples, bacon, pecans, arugula
    Fall Black Rice Salad with apples, bacon, pecans, arugula

    Fall Black Rice Salad

    Published October 6, 2020 by
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    Serves: 6   |    Active Time: 30 minutes



    Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
  • 1 small sweet onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup black wild rice, such as Forbidden Rice or TJ's Cultivated Wild Rice (Wild rice blends will also work well)
  • 2 cups chicken broth, or more as indicated on package (If using an Instant Pot to cook the rice, reduce to 1-1/4 cup broth)
  • 3 slices bacon, cooked
  • 1 apple, such as Sweet Tango or Honeycrisp
  • 1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans
  • 2 cups baby arugula
  • Salt & pepper

  • Directions:

    1. Heat oil in the bottom of a sauce pan (or Instant Pot on Sauté setting). Sauté onions and garlic until transparent.
    2. Add rice to pot, along with broth. Cover, and cook according to instructions on the rice packet. (If using an Instant Pot, set to Multigrain setting for 14 minutes with the vent in the sealed position. Natural release for 10 minutes.)
    3. Chop the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces. Core the apple, and dice. When the rice has cooled, add bacon, apple, pecans and arugula. Toss, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

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    Root Slaw with Lemon Vinaigrette

    Root Slaw with Lemon Vinaigrette

    It is rare to find an exciting vegetable in the grocery store in the middle of February. It’s all orange-green tomatoes, rock-hard avocados, and kale. This month, however, I was planning a crunchy root salad already when I came across pink daikon radishes. I paused for a minute, knowing that likely, not everyone that reads this blog will be able to find pink daikon radishes. But I bought them anyways, because their brink color was irresistible. Yes: you can use any sort of radish instead. Regular white daikons. Watermelon radish would be pretty. Easter egg radishes. Red cherry radishes. They will all work, and taste just about the same. I just fell in love with how bright and fresh the pink looked, and how it added little pops of pink to this salad. 

    Radishes, like many root vegetables, are a good fall back this time of year when little else is fresh or ripe. And while it’s easy to think of root vegetables as potatoes and yams, this salad proves that root veggies can also make a refreshing, bright, and light salad, too. Serve as a side with pulled pork, brisket, chili, or even a panini. 

    Root Slaw with Lemon Vinaigrette
    Root Slaw with Lemon Vinaigrette

    Root Slaw with Lemon Vinaigrette

    Published February 6, 2020 by
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    Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 20 minutes



    Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup radish, peeled and julienned (pink daikon radish, daikon radish, watermelon radish, or red radishes)
  • 1/3 cup cucumber, julienned
  • 1 large or 2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
  • 1 golden beet, peeled and julienned
  • 2 tablespoons minced parsley 
  • Black pepper to taste

  • For vinaigrette:
  • Juice from 1 Meyer lemon 
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 
  • 1/2 teaspoon honey 
  • 1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard 
  • Generous pinch of salt 

  • Directions:

    1. Combine all julienned vegetables and parsley in a medium-sized salad bowl.
    2. In a jar, combine all ingredients for vinaigrette. Place lid on jar and shake to emulsify.
    3. Drizzle vinaigrette over vegetables to taste (you may not need all of the vinaigrette) and toss to coat. Season to taste with pepper.

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