Winter Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 10

Total Time: 10

Servings: servings

Calories: 378kcal

Author: Jazzmine Woodard

Balanced seasonal winter salad with a rainbow of ingredients and simple, sweet homemade dressing

Print Recipe

Equipment

1 cutting board
1 knife
1 mason jar or airtight container
1 mixing bowl
1 kitchen tongs or two kitchen spoons
1 shallow serving dish

Ingredients

For the Salad

2 blood oranges
2 pears
1 cup matchstick carrots
5 ounces baby kale
5 ounces arugula or lettuce blend of your choice
1 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
½ cup pomegranate arils
1 cup walnuts halves or pieces

For the Dressing

3 blood oranges
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup or sweetener of your choice
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoon poppy seeds
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
sea salt to taste

Instructions

Prep the Produce: Peel and slice two blood oranges. Slice or chop the pears. Roughly chop the carrots. Toss the kale and lettuce in dressing.
2 blood oranges, 2 pears, 1 cup matchstick carrots
Make the Dressing: Squeeze juice of three blood oranges into mason jar then pour in olive oil, maple syrup, vinegar, poppy seeds, and ground ginger. Seal jar and shake until dressing is uniform. Taste and add salt, as needed.
3 blood oranges, ¼ cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons maple syrup, 3 tablespoons white vinegar, 1 ½ teaspoon poppy seeds, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, sea salt
Start the Salad: Add baby kale and arugula blend to mixing bowl then use tongs to toss the leaves in salad dressing until evenly coated. Mix in half of the blood orange slices, pear slices, carrots, gorgonzola cheese, pomegranate arils, and walnuts then toss the mixture again. Note that the smaller ingredients of the salad tend to sink to the bottom of the bowl so it’s helpful to scoop up the bottom ingredients and bring them to the top as you mix.
5 ounces baby kale, 5 ounces arugula, 1 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese, ½ cup pomegranate arils, 1 cup walnuts
Finish the Salad: Spread salad mixture onto serving dish. Sprinkle remaining blood orange, pear, carrot, cheese, pomegranate, and nuts over top then serve.

Notes

Preparation

Cut the pears into different sizes depending on your preference. Long slices make for a nice presentation when serving and bite-sized chunks are easier to eat. You can even do a combination of shapes and sizes to get the best of both worlds!

Mixing half of the salad topping in with the greens then adding half over top makes for a nice presentation and a better chance of getting every element on your plate.

To make the salad ahead of time, you can either prep your ingredients up to one week in advance and store them separately until you're ready to serve OR assemble the whole salad up to four days in advance. In either case, reserve the dressing until just before eating.

This recipe can easily be doubled, tripled or quadrupled for larger gatherings. To make the salad for a bigger crowd, I recommend prepping it in batches in multiple bowls or serving dishes for easier mixing.

Substitutions

If needed, you can replace the baby kale and lettuce mix in this salad with other green blends available at your grocery store or from the garden or farmer's market. Arugula, spinach, and baby Swiss chard would all work. Regular kale and even collard greens can also work but will need to be chopped and massaged in the dressing. Then let them sit in the dressing for 30 minutes to an hour so they can soften.

Gorgonzola generally has milder flavor and softer texture than other blue cheeses but if you can't find it, opt for a different variety of blue cheese. Feta and goat cheese can also work in a pinch. Or you can omit the cheese to make your winter kale salad vegan.

Storage

Once everything is mixed up, this salad should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated. It will keep for up to four days.

Nutrition