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Orange Cranberry Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese

January 12, 2007 by Nicole 40 Comments

orange-juice-for-web-2.jpg

One of my favorite things about winter is fresh-squeezed orange juice.  I’ve been lucky in that I’ve spent many years of my life surrounded by orange trees.  Growing up in California, we actually never had an orange tree of our own but the thing about living in the San Joaquin Valley is that even if you don’t have an orange tree, you always know several people who do.  It’s been several years since I’ve lived in California but now here I am in Sicily, surrounded by orange trees once again, and I’m loving it!

There’s just something about the smell of a freshly peeled orange that will brighten my mood even on the worst days. And since I spent December and part of January suffering through a terrible bout of insomnia, these oranges have really had their work cut out for them.  I’ve been juicing them in the morning, snacking on them during the day and adding them to green salads in the evening.  I even served my latest orange salad creation at Christmas dinner.  Since it seemed to be a hit then, I decided to share it with you.

Thanks to my cousin Corinne for helping me figure out the salad dressing recipe once and for all.  Here it is:

Green Salad with Oranges, Cranberries, Walnuts, and Blue Cheese

Orange Cranberry Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese

Salad:

1 head Butter, Boston or Bibb lettuce
4 oranges, peeled and sectioned
handful of sweetened, dried cranberries
handful of toasted walnuts
crumbled blue cheese

Dressing:

4 T. fresh orange juice
1 T. white wine vinegar (or anything you have on hand)
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
4 T. olive oil
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Wash and dry lettuce, tear into manageable pieces and put in salad bowl.

2. Using a knife and working over a bowl to catch the juice, peel and section oranges, tossing the orange slices onto the salad as you free each one.

3. As you finish each orange, squeeze juice from whatever orange flesh is left on the peel and from the handful of membrane you should have left over. Set bowl of juice aside.

4. Add the cranberries, walnuts and blue cheese to the salad then place in refrigerator while you make the dressing.

5. Measure out four tablespoons of orange juice into a small mixing bowl. Add vinegar and garlic then slowly whisk in the four tablespoons of oil.

6. Season dressing with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Just before serving, add desired amount of dressing to salad (you’ll probably have some left over) and toss well.

8. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Christmas, Holiday, Salads, Side Dishes, Vegetarian

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Randi says

    January 13, 2007 at 5:18 pm

    I wish we had oranges growing here in Ontario. I miss all the fresh fruit/veg ( and El Pollo Loco)we had in California!!
    Reply
  2. janelle says

    January 13, 2007 at 10:04 pm

    It has blue cheese, it has citrus: what is not to love? I just made some yummy sugar/salt walnuts that would go perfect in this salad! Yes, I had a citrus thing going on yesterday and broke down to drink a summery margarita:)
    Reply
  3. Corinne says

    January 13, 2007 at 10:25 pm

    I just picked some oranges off the tree in Madera and I think I may try this salad on my own! I would also like you to know I am going out right now to buy an electric orange juice jucier and a coffee grinder. The coffee grinder is so I can make the Pistacchio Pasta. Miss ya!
    Reply
  4. Nicole says

    January 13, 2007 at 10:54 pm

    Orchidea: Thank you! Randi: Yes, I feel really lucky to have fresh oranges available to me! janelle: Your walnuts would be perfect on this salad! The first few times I used candied walnuts but the ones I had were a little too sweet. I would like to try it with some homemade spiced walnuts. Mmmmm...margarita! Corinne: Well the salad should be a cinch for you since you're such an expert orange peeler ;-) I bought some blood oranges today at the organic market (but I still have tons left that we bought in Agrigento!). Now that Jason isn't here drinking so much juice, I'm not sure what to do with them all! Miss you too!
    Reply
  5. Patricia Scarpin says

    January 13, 2007 at 11:08 pm

    Nicole, this salad is a recipe to be repeated over and over again - delicious and fresh! I'm a huge fan of oranges, too - love baking with oranges, limes and lemons - and I wish I were surrounded by those beautiful fruits, too!
    Reply
  6. misslionheart says

    January 14, 2007 at 11:39 pm

    Sorry, I directed you to my deleted blog! Here's my latest one... http://tootsie.wordpress.com/
    Reply
  7. rachel says

    January 15, 2007 at 9:44 pm

    I'd like to invite you to join in a one day blog event I am hosting over at Food Maven. The details can be found here: http://foodmaven.blogspot.com/2007/01/whats-in-your-basket.html It should be a lot of fun so I hope you can join in!
    Reply
  8. Susan says

    January 15, 2007 at 11:19 pm

    Congratulations! I've recently begun following your blog, and it's easy to see why you won. I'll try your recipe with some fresh oranges from the farmers' market here in SoCal. Unfortunately, we've had some really cold weather which the farmers say will ruin many cara-caras and blood oranges. Susan Food "Blogga" www.foodblogga.blogspot.com
    Reply
  9. Nicole says

    January 16, 2007 at 11:36 am

    Patricia: Thanks! I've already eaten this salad several times and I'm certainly not sick of it yet! Rachel: I'll check it out...thanks for the invite! Susan: Welcome :-) My family has been telling me how the orange crops are in danger due to the deep freezes! Here it's the opposite...it just wasn't getting cold enough! We've been having spring-like weater lately!
    Reply
  10. JEssica says

    January 17, 2007 at 1:33 am

    This picture of oranges actually made me smile. like i got all cozy and thought, mmm, i want to be at that table. a little bit late - congratulations. i'm very out of the loop on these things. i've managed to miss every nomination for every type of web blog award ever. but look i didn't even have to vote...everyone else knew what i knew, that your site rocks. congratulations !
    Reply
  11. Kristen says

    January 17, 2007 at 4:12 am

    Oh - I just noticed this post featured on Food and Wine's Blog watch. Another congrats to you :)
    Reply
  12. Fer says

    January 17, 2007 at 8:53 am

    It was funny today to pull up your post and see it all about oranges as I did a post over the weekend regarding almost the same thing but Tangerines!! I guess it is just that time of year!
    Reply
  13. a. borealis says

    January 26, 2007 at 8:26 am

    Your pictures are so pretty!!!
    Reply
  14. Food And Drink blogs says

    December 22, 2017 at 10:54 pm

    That sounds fabulous,
    Reply
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