The tartness of citrus with the creaminess of avocado and herb vinaigrette is the perfect side to a cozy winter meal or served on its own to brighten up a hot summer’s day. There has never been a more enjoyable salad for both winter and summer feasting.
The Garlic
There are a few tips that I always recommend for increasing flavor in the kitchen with very little work. One of them is to roast garlic and keep in the fridge or freezer for easy use another day.
I roast whole cloves of garlic until they get a little golden brown and the flavor sweetens. These are amazing in hummus, pasta sauces, and - you guessed it - salad dressings. They avoid the spiciness that comes along with raw garlic cloves and add a depth of flavor that can’t really be reached with garlic powder (though you certainly can use garlic powder if you don’t want to go to the bother of roasting).
The first time we made this, I put my husband in charge of the dressing and he pureed several raw garlic cloves, and whew! That’s a cure-all if you have stuffed sinuses, I’ll tell ya. Opens you right up.
So, don’t be like us. Begin this salad by roasting 2 cloves of garlic for about 12 minutes at 400 degrees. You can spritz with olive oil and salt and pepper if you like, but not required. Again, I’m highly recommending roasting 10,000 cloves of garlic while you’re at it, and storing them away in the freezer because once you start incorporating them, you don’t stop. Pro tip: roast the garlic along with other veggies and keep in the fridge for meal prep.
The Salad
While the garlic is roasting, lay out your spring mix and peel the oranges. I just go old fashioned and peel the skin off, but you can also use a pairing knife to slice it if you prefer the clean look.
Slice your radish into paper thin slivers and add to the spring mix and oranges. If going for a winter salad, you can roast a few halved radishes with the garlic for a cozy root vegetable effect. Slice the avocado and add with pistachios to the bowl. It’s that simple.
The Dressing
This salad is such a dream pairing the tartness of citrus and savoriness of the herbs. You can use fresh herbs during the summer season or even dried herbs in the winter. Simply add your roasted garlic, tahini, oil, vinegar, water, and spices to a blender or food processor.
Puree and you’re good to go. Feel free to change the amount of lemon or tahini depending on how tart or creamy you’d like it to be. When preparing the dressing, I find it helpful to use a blender or food processor, but if you make a larger batch you can use a hand mixer and pop into a bottle to keep in the fridge for a few days.
Applications and Storage
This is a great dressing to meal prep for a week’s worth of lunches. Pop a smidge into 1 oz airtight glass containers and bring to work each day with a variety of salads from leafy greens to white bean and sun dried tomatoes.
Winter Blood Orange Salad with Herb Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 3 cups spring mix
- 1 blood orange peeled and sliced
- 1 orange peeled and sliced
- 1 radish sliced
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1/4 cup pistachios
For the Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1 tsp tahini
- 1 tsp agave or sub any sweetener such as vegan honey or maple syrup
- 2 cloves roasted garlic or sub 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried sage
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
Notes
Substitute 1 tsp of fresh, chopped herbs for the 1/2 tsp of dried herbs if you have them available.