Salads with a Citrus Twist

I love making salads all year round, mostly because you can add anything you want to jazz them up. Interestingly enough, in Greece we never used to add fruit to our salads...even though we have such fantastically flavored fruit! Here in the US, though, we do and I'm glad I learned this creative touch when I moved to Cincinnati.  One of my favorite discoveries was a strawberry summer salad, refreshing, juicy, mouth-watering. It helped me push the boundaries and start combining even more unusual ingredients in my salads, contrasting tastes and textures to make my salads interesting and more tasty.

My latest creation is a citrus fruit arugula salad with sea fennel.  It has the arugula bitterness, tempered by the sweet, juicy citrus fruits and an added punch from the briny sea fennel, which also gives a healthy dose of anti-oxidants. Personally, I love all those flavors coming together!

I also started playing with citrus flavors in my salad dressings, beyond the usual olive oil and lemon. As I was trying to empty my fridge before leaving for Greece last month, I saw a little bit of Citrus tangerine marmalade sitting in a jar.  We've posted a few cocktail recipes that use a spoonful or two of this product and I've also used it in my chocolate recipes. But it was lunchtime, a bit too early for a cocktail, and too hot to start baking, so I decided to use it on my salad, adding it to my usual dressing. The result was amazing! The sharp Chian tangerine flavor changed completely the flavor of my salad for the better. I highly recommend that you try it, and once you do, keep this secret ingredient to yourself and continue to amaze your guests every time you use it! 

Ingredients

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 cup Citrus Chian tangerine marmalade

3 tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice

3 tbsp finely chopped scallions or shallots 

Preparation

Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix at high speed or combine in a shaker and shake until blended to your liking.

Pour over your salad and mix thoroughly. It can be a simple green salad or you can add some goat cheese and seeds for more contrast and rich flavors. This vinaigrette is also tasty over a watermelon and feta salad, or even as a finishing sauce for your grilled chicken. The possibilities are endless. Enjoy!

For a spicier version of this dressing, Zelos fan, Georgia Manos, added Elli & Manos' Marm'elia Olive Jam and Dijon mustard instead of the lemon juice...delish!

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