| Who knew? Harvested in winter, oranges are a hybrid of the pomelo and mandarin, and have long been celebrated as health-giving fruits. In winter, an orange can provide a dazzlingly sharp ingredient in a salad and a burst of bright color while also offering good health. Even before we discovered that oranges are packed with Vitamin C they were integral to sailors’ good health, especially during long naval voyages in worldly explorations. It is believed that Christopher Columbus planted oranges in Florida in the late 1400s, whose state flower is the white orange blossom. Do you know what orange segments are called? They are called vesicles, oleiferous vesicles -to be precise -, literally, the offspring of the orange in botanical terms. In the world of cuisine, these segments – which most commonly number ten in one fruit – are called supremes once the membranes and pith have been removed. – MillPress |
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Ingredients
For the salad
- 6 oz fresh spinach washed and dried
- 2 medium-size oranges peeled and chopped into 1-inch chunks (removing any bitter white pith)
- 7 oz Manzanilla olives with the pit removed sliced into circles
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- sea salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)
- handful toasted almonds crushed roughly into various sized crumbs (a mortar and pestle does the job very well)
For the dressing
- 6 tbsp fresh EVOO your choice (DBAO has a wide variety)
- 3 tbsp vinegar your choice (select any of DBAO dark, white, and specialty vinegars) *See below for recommended pairings for this salad*
- squeezed juice of 1 orange
- 2 tbsp honey (DBAO carries Hawksview Honey)
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- sea salt (to taste)
Ingredients
For the salad
For the dressing
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Instructions
- Assemble all salad ingredients in a large bowl.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together. *Recommended pairings* Option 1: Blood Orange Olive Oil and Champagne Vinegar Option 2: Lemon Olive Oil and Sicilian Lemon Balsamic Vinegar Option 3: Medium EVOO and Fig Balsamic Vinegar
- Pour the dressing on top of the salad just before serving.
- Toss well, sprinkle the toasted almond crumble on top of the salad, and serve.