Any salad (or dish) that you can throw together quickly is great. And when it’s with some ingredients you love it’s even better. Fennel and hearts of palm are two veggies (? — are they both considered that) I could eat every day.
A salad I recently made because of the warm temps had two of those in there — fennel, hearts of palm and then some oranges.
Use the ratio of whatever you’d like on all of them. Slice them. Toss them with a little of olive oil, S&P and you’re good to go. Delicious!
Keep finding recipes I have to try. This one was from the January issue of Bon Appetit but was far too perfect for May — Roasted Citrus and Avocado Salad. Some sweet, some sour, some heavenly avocado…
Ingredients
1 blood or Valencia orange, sliced 1/8″ thick, seeds removed (I can never find either of these…went with Navel)
1 Meyer or regular lemon, sliced 1/8″ thick, seeds removed
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh Meyer or regular lemon juice (I went with bottled)
1 bunch watercress or arugula, thick stems trimmed (love arugula!!!!)
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1 avocado, cut into wedges
![IMG_3020[1]](https://melsmosaic.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/img_30201.jpg)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425°. Toss orange and lemon slices with 1 tablespoon oil on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and pepper.
Roast citrus, tossing occasionally, until lightly charred in spots and starting to caramelize, 10-15 minutes. This makes the citrus flavor more complex. Let cool.
Meanwhile, combine onion and lemon juice in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper and let sit 5 minutes (onion will soften a bit and get slightly sweeter and less harsh).
Add roasted citrus to bowl with onion along with arugula and mint. Drizzle remaining 3 tablespoons oil over; season with salt and pepper and toss everything to combine and coat.
Add avocado and very gently toss until lightly dressed (you don’t want to crush the avocado). I cut my avocado into a bit more of cubes vs. slices…
This was delicious! I didn’t even add that much olive oil at the end because it was so moist. I served it with some seared sea bass and a nice Sauvignon Blanc. It’s definitely at the top of my list.
It’s summer, which means it’s melon time! Bon Appetit came a couple weeks ago and I was flipping through it, of course, and there was a recipe with honeydew. I haven’t seen many recipes with honeydew in them. The most I’ve ever done with it is either (1) cut and eat or (2) the aforementioned topped with prosciutto. So, this recipe was game! This delectable food-bearing treat I keep mentioning is Shaved Honeydew, Fennel, and Olive Salad. The last two key ingredient are some of my favorite foods! It’s a no-cook (in the sense of no heat) recipe which is great this time of year. And, gluten free, dairy free and vegetarian.
Ingredients
Directions
Zest the orange (and then make sure you don’t add this to the dressing!!!). I carefully took it out of the bowl after I more carefully read the directions. Why should you read ahead, right?
Whisk orange juice, lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp. oil in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper.
Shave the honeydew…hmmm….what’s the best way to take the skin off the melon? Carrot peeler, not that great, knife ended up being the best bet. Then I quartered the melon and it took awhile.
Next, you do the same thing to the fennel. Much easier to prep/cut!
Add melon, shaved fennel, and olives to vinaigrette and toss to coat. Top salad with orange zest and fennel fronds, drizzle with more oil, and season with salt and pepper.
Final product (VERY green!)
It was very light and refreshing, though it seems like it was missing something and I can’t tell if it was lemon juice or S&P. I did add more S&P at the table so don’t know if it was the lemon. But overall, very nice. Perfect for summer! Was served with scallops and some delicious grains. Would highly recommend it.
Quick, easy, and tasty…that’s what I want, not only during the summer, but a lot of the time. Cooking Light had a bunch of great, quick & simple recipes in one of their recent issues and I have been trying several of them. They are good! One that I made recently had my favorite lettuce — ARUGULA! Then, green beans and oranges. I also threw some grapefruit in there. The official name of the recipe is Green Bean, Arugula, and Clementine Toss.
Ingredients
Directions
Steam haricot verts in the microwave according to package directions; halve beans crosswise. Or, steam them on the stove. I also forgot to cut them afterwards.
Cool 5 minutes; toss with arugula, clementine segments, olive oil, vinegar, and salt.
So good and perfect for summer weather! And, gluten and dairy free.
Mel's Mosaic 