I successfully defended my dissertation!!!! Yippiee!!!!! Which is why I pretty much fell off the face of the earth and haven’t posted anything in the last 5 months. Dissertations are hard! 🙂 Now that it is over, I’m very much looking forward to not working all the time, cooking bright yummy healthy food again, and eating well. I really can’t say what I’ve been ingesting of late, but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been all that good for me.
To break that cycle, I bring you this salad. I’ve been making this, or versions of it for years now and am in love. It isn’t the easiest of salads since it involves reducing the citrusy part of the dressing and roasting the beets, but it is well worth it — especially for special occasions. I made this one for our end-of-semester lab group potluck and it was a hit. Awwww, I get a little sad thinking that may have been my last lab potluck. Maybe if I keep bringing yummy food they’ll still include me as an honorary member.
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
- 3 Tbs. honey
- 2 Tbs. orange zest
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely minced
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- ½ tsp. sea salt
- 8 cups arugula
- 5-7 mandarin or other small sweet orange, peeled and divided into wedges
- 2 medium beets, roasted, peeled, and sliced into wedges (Coat with olive oil, wrap in foil, and roast at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes)
- 1/2 cup roasted, salted pistachios
- 1. In a small saucepan, combine orange, lemon and lime juice and honey. Bring to a boil and simmer until it reduces to about a 1/2 cup. Stir occasionally.
- 2. While the citrus is reducing, combine the remaining dressing ingredients in a small, lidded jar. Once the citrus reduction has cooled, add it to the jar and shake until well-combined. **
- 3. To assemble the salad, place 2-3 Tbs. of dressing in a large bowl. Add the arugula and toss until well-coated. Add beets, oranges, and pistachios and serve.
- ** This recipe leaves you with extra dressing (thus the lidded jar for easy storage). You can also serve it with the salad so folks can add more to their liking.
Loved eating this salad at the lab potluck and can’t wait to make it! Yum!!! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂