This salad features some seasonal, seedless citrus: blood oranges and Cara Cara oranges. Both types of oranges are usually expensive, and so can be substituted as needed with grapefruits, clementines or similarly juicy citrus of your choice.
This past week (and hopefully in the weeks to come), Mr. Berry at 872 Manhattan Avenue has been selling Cara Cara oranges for a dollar each, and blood oranges for 79 cents. Pomegranates can be found at a number of neighborhood groceries, including C-Town and The Garden, though they are always cheaper when spotted at the smaller fruit and veg shops.
Recipe after the jump!
Pomegranates are in season October to February, and they are the perfect cold-weather fruit. I know several people who are pretty nonplussed when they see this beautiful, bulbous fruit in the grocery store, so here are a few quick tips!
Always select a heavier pomegranate (so you know it’s full of juice) that has leather-like, firm skin and is red or reddish-brown in color. It doesn’t matter if the skin is mottled or scratched; it shouldn’t affect the quality of the inside fruit. Also, seeding pomegranates can be tedious and messy, so the easiest way is to slice it in half horizontally and submerge both halves in a big mixing bowl full of cold water. Then use your fingers to push and pry out the seeds (“arils”), which are the edible part of the fruit.
This winter fruit salad is an excellent choice to feed a hungry brood at brunch, to satisfy a few friends for dessert, or even to graze on yourself over a few days. It was a huge hit at a pop-up brunch of mine recently, and I hope it’ll be a huge hit with you too!
Recipe
3 blood oranges, peeled & sliced horizontally
5 Cara Cara oranges, peeled & sliced horizontally
Pomegranate seeds
Mix for dressing:
2 tsp rosewater
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
1/2 cup fresh or bottled orange juice*
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla sugar** OR honey
When just serving this recipe to friends and family, I keep the dressing on the table so people can add as much as they’d personally like. Many prefer the rosewater and pomegranate flavors to be a more subtle complement to the citrus, so I recommend starting with a smaller drizzle and testing along the way until you match your particular tastes. The dressing keeps well in the fridge.
Similarly, you can add however many pomegranate seeds you like. Just keep in mind the leftovers will only keep a day or two in the fridge.
Happy eating!
Claire
*You can get freshly-squeezed OJ at Mr. Berry too!
**A quicker way to make vanilla sugar = 1 cup sugar + 1 tsp vanilla extract, stirred & laid out on a baking sheet to dry, then bagged.