Spring Sunshine Salad With Citrus Parmesan Dressing

Submitted by Sharon123

"Recipe from Heidi Swanson. She has some great recipes!"

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 14

ingredients

• 6 -8 handfuls mixed salad greens, washed and dried well (or butter lettuce)
• 1 -2 medium orange, sectioned, pith removed, cut in half
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced
• 1⁄2 cup toasted nuts (sliced almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, etc)
• 1⁄2 cup sliced spring onion (scallions, or green onions)
• parmesan cheese, shavings to garnish

• Citrus Parmesan Dressing

• 1⁄3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2 oranges, zest and juice of
• 2 tablespoons chopped shallots (or red onion, or scallions)
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1⁄4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 pinches salt
• 2 pinches pepper

directions

1. Salad:.
2. Wash and dry salad greens well and place them in a large bowl.
3. Add orange pieces, nuts, and onions.
4. Toss well with the Citrus Parmesan Dressing .
5. Add the avocado and toss the salad gently, so as not to mush the avocado.
6. Sprinkle with some Parmesan shavings(using a vegetable peeler).
7. Citrus Parmesan Dressing:.
8. In a bowl combine the grated Parmesan, orange zest and juice, and the shallots.
9. Whisk in the red wine vinegar.
10. Whisk in the olive oil and finish by seasoning with salt and pepper.
11. Or you may use a jar and shake the dressing.
12. A few more ideas from Heidi:.
13. Gently heat the dressing and toss with spinach, for a warm, slightly wilted dinner salad.
14. Use the vinaigrette as a marinade.
15. Use it to toss with pasta (stuffed cheese filled pasta is an especially good choice).

Reviews

[Meredith C-ville]

Great salad. I used a lot more salad ingredients, maybe almost doubled, to serve a lot of people. I got lucky and ended up with wonderfully juicy and flavorful oranges, which I think you could not do this without. I did not use the vinegar in the dressing, but instead used the juice of a whole lemon along with the juice from the oranges. I upped the dressing amounts, too, but still only used maybe a third of a cup of oil and we did not miss the extra. The flavor contrasts were great, with a slight bitterness from the green onion and radicchio (in my greens mix), the sweetness of the orange, the richness of the avocado (also with texture contrast), and the toasty nuttiness from the almonds. I will definitely be making this again.

 

[Classy Canuck]

Served this to company and had tons of compliments. Thanks Sharon123.

 

[loof751]

This is a great salad and we loved the dressing! I left out the onion and forgot to add the avocado. I made the "wilted" spinach version and it was really good with this yummy dressing. Thanks for sharing this recipe!