This Blood Orange and Leeks Salad is a Mediterranean Winter salad. Different variations of this salad can be found in Albania and Greece. Traditional recipe doesn’t have arugula, but if you try it you’ll definitely agree with me that arugula is such a great addition:).
This salad is pretty easy to make! It has few ingredients and simple dressing. If you are not familiar with Mediterranean flavors, we use oranges quite a bit in salads, especially with olives. Check out these other orange salad recipes:
Dressing for Orange Salad
The most typical dressing for orange salads is extra virgin olive oil, salt and citrus juice. Usually I squeeze a lemon or another orange. The mix of sweet, tart and salt from the oranges and olives gives the salad that amazing flavor so you don’t want the dressing to overwhelm.
Something else you can add instead of citrus juice is White Balsamic Vinegar.
Finally for a more complex dressing, you can add some honey into the mix of olive oil and the white balsamic vinegar.
What Do You Serve This Salad With?
Several times when I show my salads in social media, I get asked what do you serve that salad with. Here are couple of options:
- Big dinner celebrations – orange salads usually make for the star of the table. Everyone always comments on how refreshing and tasty they are. Also, fruit and citrus salads in general tend to balance flavors with leg of lamb, roasted ham or turkey. It kind of counterbalances grease from big roasts.
- Regular Sunday dinner – usually I’ll have a roasted chicken or lamb chops ready for family dinner. That meal with this salad and another side dish like rice, dinner rolls or roasted potatoes tastes amazing.
- I tend to use this salad when I try to lower my carb intake for few weeks. As a food blogger, I’m always cooking and tasting food. Holiday baking season is insane in my house. So January it’s time for a little detox and going back to healthy. Serve this salad with baked chicken breast or salmon.
Mediterranean Blood Orange & Leeks Salad
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 3 ozs arugula
- 3 blood oranges
- 1 leek
- 20 kalamata olives
Dressing
- 3 tbsps olive oil extra virgin
- 2 tbsps white balsamic vinegar or the fresh juice of 1 orange
- 0.5 tsp salt adjust salt to taste
Instructions
- Peel the oranges whole. Slice them. Wash and clean leek carefully. Slice it very thinly.
- Set up the platter. Add arugula as the bottom layer. Then add another layer with all the sliced oranges. Then sprinkle the sliced leeks over the platter. Finally add all the olives.
- You can just add salt evenly over salad, then olive oil and finally citrus juice or white balsamic vinegar. Or you can prepare the dressing on the side in a container where you mix these ingredients up then pour the dressing over salad. Personally if I add each ingredients separately to the salad platter, I use the same exact measurements as in the recipe card. However, if I'm preparing the dressing to serve on the side, then I double it up so everyone can add as much as they want.
- It's better to serve the salad right away, however if you're still finalizing the rest of your meal, then refrigerate the salad as needed. Get it our of the refrigerator about 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy:)
Notes
- If using the salad in a big family celebrations where you have lots of other dishes, then this recipe is for 4 servings. Double up if needed.
- If serving this salad just with chicken or salmon, then you might need to add more arugula.
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
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Other Orange Salads:
Check out more orange salads from my blog, besides salads.
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