Author Notes
Confession: I've never bought nor cooked with blood oranges. I don't even know if I've eaten one, except I had a blood orange vodka once, but that's another story. I always wondered, "Are they really that different from other oranges"? The answer is, of course, yes. And what a difference! In my experimenting, I found that I really liked the combination of these 5 flavors: apple, fennel, blood oranges, feta cheese and mint. I first tried a simple saute. It was good, but needed some 'punching up' of the flavor. The blood orange became too muted from the heat, and the flavors all went together a little too well with nothing really standing out. So I tried a salad and found what I was looking for. It's a simple composed salad with each flavor really standing out individually but also playing together quite well - especially the blood orange. I used a small mandolin slicer to thinly slice the fennel, apple and red onion. The walnuts are optional, and I didn't do it for mine due to my allergy to nuts, but others loved the addition. —TheWimpyVegetarian
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Ingredients
- Apple Fennel Salad
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1 1/2 cups
arugula leaves (packed), washed and dried
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1
Granny Smith (or other tart) apple, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
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1
medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
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1
small red onion, thinly sliced
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1
blood orange, peeled and segmented removing the membrane
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1/3 cup
feta cheese, broken up
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1/2 teaspoon
mint leaves, chiffonade cut (about 10 leaves)
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1/4 cup
honey glazed walnuts (see below instructions for how to make these)
- Honey - Apple Cider Vinegar Salad Dressing
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1/4 cup
apple cider vinegar
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2 tablespoons
juice from a blood orange
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1 tablespoon
Dijon mustard
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1/8 teaspoon
ground black pepper
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1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
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1/2 cup
extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Apple Fennel Salad
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To make the honey-glazed walnuts, preheat the oven to 350F. Place the walnuts on a foil lined cookie sheet and pour 2 tablespoons of honey over them. Toss lightly to coat them and separate on the sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from the foil and set aside to cool.
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Make the dressing - the recipe follows this.
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Combine all ingredients and toss with salad dressing and serve.
- Honey - Apple Cider Vinegar Salad Dressing
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Whisk together all the ingredients except the olive oil until well combined. Slowly add the olive oil while whisking.
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