Salade de roquette aux betteraves, oranges sanguines et noix – Vinaigrette d’agrumes

I love this salad, it’s fresh, fragrant and in my opinion has a lot of character due to its vibrant colors and bold flavors. I made it a few weeks ago, then never posted it. All kind of oranges are in season right now, from the cara cara to the blood oranges, there are many citrus out there that are worth exploring. My favorites right now are the Satsuma oranges. Under a rough and thick peel, you find a delicious, juicy and sweet pulp with no seeds that is such an exquisite treat…treat yourself until they last!

Beets are either a hit or a miss with people. Either you love them or hate them, so if you are one of the beet lovers, you might want to give this a try. You can use pistachios or sunflower seeds instead of walnuts and of course some other peppery green would also be an alternative.

In this salad, I used what in French we call “saigner” the orange. It’s a technique we use for peeling citrus fruits. Basically, after you peel the orange, using a very sharp knife you need to cut the top and bottom of the orange, then you cut thinly the white part of it all around the fruit, then you slice it. This way you have nice round slices of oranges and no skin.

Ingredients for 2

  • 4 medium cooked beets, peeled and sliced crosswise
  • 1.5 cups arugula
  • 2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced crosswise

For the vinaigrette

  •  3 tbs extra virgin unfiltered olive oil
  • 1 tbs meyer lemon juice
  • juice of one orange
  • 1 tbs orange champagne vinegar (or any based citrus vinegar)
  • 1 tbs walnuts, chopped
  • 1 tbs mint chopped
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

Mix all the ingredients of the vinaigrette and stir well.

Place greens in a plate, then arrange one slice of orange, then one slice of beet, alternating until you have used all of them.

Add vinaigrette on top and serve either cold or at room temperature