Winter Citrus Salad with Honey Dressing
This citrus salad requires only that you overcome the notion that salads must be green; it’s a novel and wonderful antidote to sorry-looking lettuce. If you’re lucky and can find blood oranges, use them; same with the odd, supremely delicious and usually quite pricey pomelos.
The idea is a combination of grapefruit (I like pink), oranges (navels, though common, are terrific) and tangerines or clementines: any citrus fruit that’s more sweet than sour.
Peel the fruit: the easiest way is to cut off both ends at the poles so you have a flat surface to stand it upright, then cut as close to the pulp as possible, slicing off the skin in strips and removing as much bitter pith as possible.
Slice the fruit into disks, then arrange it to show off the various colors and sizes. Sprinkle with salt — very important — and chopped or very thinly sliced red onion or shallot.
The dressing is a mixture of sharp and sweet, designed to bring out the same contrasting flavors in the fruit: olive oil, sherry vinegar, a few drops of honey and a bit more citrus. I like a squeeze of lime, but lemon is also fine; a pinch of cayenne or a sprinkling of black pepper is all right but not essential.
Add some fresh tarragon for a hint of anise and you have a great salad that may not make you forget it’s winter but will relieve some of the pain.
2 blood oranges or tangerines
1 pink grapefruit
1 navel orange
Salt
1/2 small red onion or 1 shallot, chopped
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon honey
Lime or lemon juice to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly chopped tarragon or a pinch dried.
1. Peel citrus, removing as much pith as possible, and slice into wheels. Remove any pits, layer fruit on a serving dish, sprinkle with salt and garnish with chopped onion.
2. Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, honey, lime juice and tarragon until well combined; taste, adjust seasoning as needed and drizzle over salad .