This citrus salad is inspired by the classic Sicilian Salad. It’s refreshing and flavorful and consists of a mixture of fresh oranges, grapefruits, celery and greens. This dish is meant to highlight the bright, juicy flavors of citrus fruits and is can be served as an appetizer or a light dessert.
Citrus Salad Recipe Ingredients
This simple salad recipe includes the following ingredients:
- Batavia lettuce
- Orange
- Grapefruit
- Red onion
- Celery
- Feta cheese
- Pine nuts
- Honey Orange dressing (extra-virgin olive oil, orange juice, honey, honey mustard)
Citrus Salad variations
This Citrus Salad recipe is very simple and delicious! Moreover, you can change the ingredients according to your taste. Some variations of this Citrus Salad that I recommend:
- Salad base. You can replace Batavia lettuce with Radicchio salad which is a base ingredient in the classic Sicilian Citrus salad recipe.
- Citruses. In this Citrus Salad, I use oranges and grapefruit, however, red-fleshed navel oranges, such as Cara Cara navel orange, tangerines or Pomelo would also work well! Oranges are are low in calories and high in nutrients, including vitamin C, fiber, folate, and potassium.
- Celery. One of the good flavors that can be added to this salad can be taken from Fennel, so don’t hesitate to add it to celery or replace it.
- Cheese. I like to add some creamy-salty flavor to balance the juciness of citruses, feta is good at it. However you can replace it with Parmesan, the taste will be different, tangier rather than creamy, but it’s also one of the possible options. You can skip the cheese and make this Citrus Salad vegan. Then you can add some typical Italian ingredients such as Kalamata olives or capers.
- Nuts. I used freshly roasted Pine nuts, but I believe that some cashews or walnut would also be good!
How to make Citrus Salad
Let’s begin with the pine nuts. Place a pan on medium heat and roast the nuts for a couple of minutes, stirring. They get a nice brown crust and give a pine aroma. I like it!
Roughly cut Batavia lettuce.
Peel and cut oranges into slices and then into triangles. Make sure to delete the orange seeds and pith, we don’t need them in this recipe. Peel and cut grapefruit, and delete its pith.
Cut celery stalks obliquely and cut the red onion into semi-circles.
Prepare the Honey Orange dressing by combining extra-virgin olive oil, orange juice, honey and honey mustard till smooth. I take the ingredients out of the fridge an hour before cooking so by the cooking time they reach room temperature and it’s easier to mix them.
Assemble the Salad. Place the lettuce leave on a large serving plate, and spread orange and grapefruit pieces over it. Then place onion semi-rings and celery.
With hands break the feta into rough pieces or just cut it and add them to the salad. Sprinkle Citrus Salad with roasted pine nuts.
Drizzle the Salad with Honey Orange dressing. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper and enjoy!
Citrus Salad
Ingredients
Citrus Salad
- 100 g Batavia lettuce
- 1 orange
- ½ grapefruit
- ¼ red onion
- 3 celery stalks
- 50 g Feta cheese
- 20 2 Pine nuts
Orange Honey Dressing
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- ½ tbsp honey
- 1 tsp honey mustard
Instructions
- Roast the pine nuts till they get a brown crust and give a pine aroma. Set aside.
- Roughly cut Batavia lettuce. Peel and cut orange and grapefruit, deleting the seeds and pith.
- Cut celery stalks obliquely and cut the red onion into semi-circles.
- Make the Honey Orange dressing by mixing together olive oil, orange juice, honey and honey mustard till smooth.
- Place the lettuce leaves on a large serving plate, spread orange and grapefruit pieces over it and add onion semi-rings and celery. Then place feta pieces on the salad. Sprinkle it with pine nuts and drizzle it with Honey Orange dressing. Serve with freshly ground black pepper and enjoy!
Simple Citrus Salad