A bright and refreshing Winter Citrus Salad for dreary winter days! It’s filled with blood oranges, mandarins, tangelos, as well as peppery watercress, avocado and mint. Drizzle over the cardamom and honey dressing and spring won’t feel so far away.
I adore citrus season.
It might be technically spring now that I’m finally getting around to posting this recipe, but let me tell you; as long as I can grab up those blood oranges in my greedy little hands, I’ll be making this Winter Citrus Salad.
The different oranges and reds from the citrus fruit nestled against the watercress always makes this salad look picture perfect and impressive, and it tastes phenomenal too. It’ll absolutely drive away your winter blues!
Pair it as a side dish to some fish (or chicken), or add a grain like quinoa with extra cardamom dressing and call it a meal.
Cook along with me:
Winter Citrus Salad Recipe Ingredients
- Watercress. Every salad needs a foundation and this one is a slightly peppery, slightly bitter one to stand up to the tang of the citrus and creaminess of the avocado. Rocket would also work.
- Citrus. You can’t make a Winter Citrus Salad without citrus… You’ll need four pieces of fruit all up. And while it’s nice to use a variety, you can use just your favourite, if you prefer. I used blood orange, tangelo, mandarin and a cara cara orange. It’s also visually lovely if you supreme some pieces (see below) and slice rounds out of other pieces. But again, that’s not necessary.
- Avocado. The creamy texture brings balance to an otherwise overly flavourful dish. Don’t think of it as filler, and don’t skip it unless the one you have is manky or you forgot to pick one up.
- Mint. A little sweet, a little cooling, a little herbal. It’s my favourite herb, its misunderstood, and it’s the perfect accompaniment to this Winter Citrus Salad.
- Pine nuts. The citrus-watercress base needs a crunch that can stand up to it, and a more fatty nut like pine nuts can bring that. Plus, once they’re toasted and moreish, they also offer a depth of flavour to an otherwise fresh dish. Chopped up macadamias, roasted or not, would be good too.
- Pomegranate. Adding a handful of pomegranate arils looks pretty and brings a different pop of sweet and sour to the citrus. These, though tasty and colourful, are kind of a garnish. The Winter Citrus Salad will taste just as amazing without them, so if you want to skip them (too much work, can’t get them, don’t have any), no problem.
- Cardamom dressing. A blood orange and cardamom dressing slightly sweetened with honey brings the salad together. Cardamom is the perfect flavouring for the dressing, as it’s sweet but peppery and herbal, and pairs beautifully with citrus. You can use ground cardamom or green cardamom pods.
How to Make the Winter Citrus Salad
Okay, I’ll admit there’s some prep work with the citrus. And the pomegranate garnish, if you’re using it. But apart from that, it’s all about layering the ingredients. Easy!
- Make the cardamom dressing by adding all the ingredients to a jar and shaking it until emulsified.
- WASH the citrus before you peel them. If you don’t, you’ll be pulling the muck that’s on the peel across the fruit inside as you slice away the peel and pith.
- Peel and slice the citrus. Use a mixture of rounds and wedges, if you like.
- Layer the winter citrus salad ingredients. Start with a base of watercress, add in wedges of avocado, all the citrus and roughly chopped fresh mint. Over the top scatter the pomegranate arils and the toasted pine nuts.
- Drizzle over as much of the cardamom dressing as you like and serve!
How to Cut Citrus Fruit
You can see from my pictures that I was a little rough and careless with the mandarin segments, and I didn’t remove all the membrane strands. You can get away with that with citrus that segments easily, like mandarins and tangelos – to a certain extent. Don’t leave think pieces of pith or membrane on the citrus pieces or the salad will end up tasting bitter.
To peel oranges with a knife, slice off the ends so they stand flat and sturdy. Using a sharp knife, cut away the peel AND the white pith beneath it by following the curve and shape of the fruit. You can then turn the orange over and slice away any bits you might have missed. Don’t cut straight down or you’ll end up wasting a lot of fruit.
- For slices, turn the orange on its side and cut ¼ inch thick rounds crosswise. Any thinner and the rounds may fall apart, as I discovered!
- For segments, or to supreme an orange, cut between the membrane that holds the fruit together. Slice on each side of the membrane to cut out a segment. Continue until you’ve cut out all the segments.
Looking for more citrus recipes? Try these:
- Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Cream Cheese Glaze
- Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing
- Green Beans Gremolata
- Blood Orange, Beet and Burrata Salad with Hot Honey
- Blood Orange French Yogurt Cake (Gâteau au Yaourt)
- Flambéed Crêpes Suzette
If you make this Winter Citrus Salad, please be sure to leave a comment and let me know. What mix of citrus fruit did you use? Or tag me over on Instagram, I love seeing what you guys are making from the blog!
Winter Citrus Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cardamom Dressing
- ¼ cup blood orange juice, or orange juice
- Zest from the citrus used
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon green cardamom seeds, lightly crushed, or 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
For the Citrus Salad
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 1 blood orange
- 1 orange
- 1 tangelo
- 1 mandarin
- 1 bunch watercress, washed, dried and trimmed
- 1 avocado, cut into wedges and sliced
- 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, picked and roughly chopped
- Arils from half a pomegranate
Instructions
- Start by making the dressing. To a jar add all of the ingredients, close with a tightly fitting lid and shake until emulsified. Alternatively, combine all the ingredients, with the oil last, and mix with a whisk or a fork until combined and emulsified. Set aside.¼ cup blood orange juice, Zest from the citrus used, 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey, ½ teaspoon green cardamom seeds, ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- In a small, dry pan, toast the pine nuts over low heat until golden and toasty. Empty out into a small bowl and set aside.¼ cup pine nuts
- Next, prepare the citrus. Wash and dry the fruit and then peel them – Using a sharp knife, slice away the top and bottom, then with the fruit standing flat, cut away the peel and pith (white part underneath) by following the curves of the fruit. Trim off any missed peel and pith.1 blood orange, 1 orange, 1 tangelo, 1 mandarin
- Cut the citrus into ¼ inch thick rounds or into segments by cutting between each side of the membrane to remove the segment and leave your salad bitter-free (more detail in the blog post above).
- On a large serving platter, layer the washed and trimmed watercress, the avocado wedges, the citrus pieces and the fresh mint. Over the top of that scatter the pomegranate arils and the toasted pine nuts.1 bunch watercress, 1 avocado, 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, Arils from half a pomegranate
- Give the dressing another quick shake or whisk and then drizzle as much or as little all over the top of the Winter Citrus Salad. Serve and enjoy!
