Arugula, Beet, and Orange Salad with Orange Blossom Vinaigrette

It’s sweet, tart, spicy, and flowery. It’s spring’s dainty nudging that says, “I’m not too far away”.

There’s enough dressing to make 4 large or 8 side salads. The salad ingredients are for 1 large or 2 side salads. It is written that way to make it easier to assemble. If that’s confusing, let me know. Not all of my ideas are good.

I make the dressing while the beets roast.

PS I didn’t realize I had so many ingredients in the dressing until I typed it out. Just roll with it – you won’t regret it.

Orange Blossom Vinaigrette Ingredients
Dressing for 4 large salads or 8 side salads

1 clove of garlic (you want about 1 tsp minced)
2 Tbl minced shallot (use the extra for the salad)
2 Tbl sugarcane vinegar
1 tsp lemon zest
5 Tbl lemon juice (have 2 lemons on hand)
4 tsp orange blossom water
½ c grape seed or other neutral oil
2 Tbl honey
½ tsp mustard
¼ tsp salt

Orange Blossom Vinaigrette Directions
Slice off the dry end of the garlic clove. Lay your knife flat against the top and give it a good whack with the exterior of your fist. Remove the popped skin. Thinly slice the clove. Rock the knife back and forth to get a fine mince. Take the time and do it right. Your dressing will be better. Use about 1 tsp (a little more or less is fine). Add it to a pint size jar that has a tight filling lid.

Slice of the dry end of the shallot. Slice it in half pole to pole. Lay it flat side down and thinly slice pole to pole. Then across to create a mince. Measure out 2 Tbl of shallots (reserve the extras). Rock the knife back and forth to create a smaller mince. Add it to the jar.

Add 2 Tbl sugarcane vinegar to the jar. Give it a super quick stir or shake.

Zest a lemon. You’ll need 1 tsp of zest but hang on to it (easier to zest before squeezing the lemon.

Roll the lemon back and forth on the counter while applying downward pressure with the heel of your hand. When you feel the peel give, stop. Slice the lemon in half across the equator. Stick a fork in the flesh and squeeze. The fork helps get more juice out. Add 5 Tbl lemon juice to the jar. Allow it to sit 10 minutes. The acid will take the harshness off of the garlic and shallot.

Add 1 tsp lemon zest, 4 tsp orange blossom water, 8 Tbl grape seed oil, 2 Tbl honey, ½ tsp mustard, and ¼ tsp salt.

Close the lid and shake, shake, shake.

Arugula, Beet, and Orange Salad with Orange Blossom Vinaigrette Ingredients
For 1 large or 2 side salads.

½ c roasted beets (have 1 large beet)
3 c (packed) baby arugula
4 Tbl Orange Blossom Vinaigrette
½ c orange pieces (1 orange)
1 Tbl shallots
3 Tbl roasted pecans (here’s my recipe)

Arugula, Beet, and Orange Salad with Orange Blossom Vinaigrette Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the foliage off of the beet. Save the greens for something else. Put the beets in a Pyrex with a thin layer of water and cover it tightly with aluminum oil. Roast. After 50 minutes, remove the beets from the oven and pierce one with a knife. If the knife penetrates the beet easily, it’s done. If not, add a little water to the dish if needed, tightly cover them and return to the oven and check on them in 15 minutes. It took mine 90 minutes to get soft.

When the beats are just cool enough to touch, slice off the beet tail. Stand the beet stem stem side down. Run a sharp knife between the skin and flesh. It will peel far easier when the beet is still hot.

Slice the beet into ½” thick rounds. Stack 2-3 rounds high (more than than that it’s hard to control). Slice into ½” strips, turn the strips 90 degrees and repeat to create ½” cubes.

Slice off both ends of the orange. Slice the orange upright and run a knife just under the skin. Repeat the cutting process that you did with the beet.

Your shallots should be minced from when you made the dressing, if not, do it.

Add 1 ½ c packed arugula to a large plate. Drizzle 2 Tbl of vinaigrette (make sure you shake it first) on it. Add the remaining 1 ½ c of arugula and 2 Tbl of vinaigrette. Give it a quick toss. Scatter in this order ½ cup of orange pieces, ½ c beets, 1 Tbl shallots, and 3 Tbl pecans.

Notes
Don’t try to “behave” and skip the honey in the dressing. Honey along with mustard are emulsifers are needed to make the vinegar (and lemon juice) play nicely with the oil. While true, you could use just mustard, you would need too much of it and your dressing will take on too much of that flavor. While 2 Tbl of honey sounds like al ot the dressing won’t taste sweet.

If you can’t find arugula, mustard greens are great substitute (just make sure you massage them first). You can also use your ole standby salad greens.

Many people boast the flavor of small beets. I agree if you’re eating them raw. With this method of cooking, I prefer the big ones. It will take longer to cook, but so much quicker to peel them.

Sugarcane vinegar is hard to find. You can order it off of the Steen’s website. Otherwise use whatever vinegar you have – apple cider, wine vinegar, etc.

No grape seed oil, no problem. You can use avocado, sunflower, canola, or vegetable oil.