Just look at this salad. Doesn’t it look like it tastes like sunshine? All bright and sunny and fresh. Those bright red half moons are heirloom radishes. The sprouts are peas, sunflower and radish. There’s spinach that tastes like candy. There’s organic navel oranges, segmented so all the bitter white pith is removed. And there’s crunchy red cabbage, so shiny it reflects those sunny radish moons.
Toss it all together with some olive or sunflower oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, salt and pepper and all of a sudden winter does’t exist. The last eight months are forgotten in a single crunch.
Shaking off winter. Too much?
Spring Salad with Watermelon Radishes, Spinach and Orange
If you can’t find watermelon radishes (I found them at the Saturday morning St. Lawrence Farmers Market in Toronto) use regular radishes. They’re just not as pretty.
2 large navel oranges
2 cups spinach
1 cup sprouts (pea, sunflower, radish, mustard, daikon, or whatever you want. The only one that doesn’t really work is alfalfa)
1 watermelon radish or 6 small red radishes, sliced
1/2 red cabbage, thinly sliced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Dijon
2 tsp honey or maple syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
Segment oranges by slicing off the top and bottom of the orange so it sits flat on a cutting board. Cut off all skin. Then cut between the segments, catching the dripping juices. Remove segments and discard white pith. Combine the vegetables in a large bowl. Combine the dressing ingredients except the olive oil. Slowly stir in oil (or shake in a sealed container to emulsify). Pour over vegetables and toss to coat. There will be excess dressing at the bottom of the bowl, so transfer to another bowl if you don’t want it soupy. Don’t throw out the extra dressing, though. Store leftover salad with the excess dressing so the cabbage can soak in it. It’ll be more delicious on day two.
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