Citrus Salad with a Pistachio Maple Vinaigrette

// On those dark stormy nights, whip up this bright salad and cure those winter blues.

Citrus Salad with a Pistachio Maple Vinaigrette

Serves 4

Salad

4 navel oranges, blood oranges, tangerines, and/or grapefruit, peeled and cut in rounds

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

4 radicchio leaves

2 endive bulbs, leaves separated

1 cup of arugula, chopped

¼ cup of pistachios, chopped

Dressing

¼ cup of pistachios, shelled

¼ cup of olive oil

Juice of half a navel orange

Juice of half a lemon

2 teaspoons of maple syrup

Salt and pepper to taste

Arrange salad on individual plates to serve. On each plate place a radicchio leaf and 3-4 leaves from the endive.  Note, radicchio is a peppery, bitter member of the chicory family, it pairs nicely with the sweetness from the vinaigrette and the oranges, but if you do not like bitter, use half of a leaf instead.   

Add the rounds of citrus on top of the radicchio and endive.  Be sure that when you remove the peel of the citrus that you also cut off the white pith before slicing into rounds. Layer with fennel, pistachio, and top with sprinkled arugula.

For the vinaigrette, add all of the ingredients into a blender and whiz up.  Drizzle on top of the salad.

//Cook’s Note:  As a fan of bitter and sweet, this salad is perfect for my taste buds, if you are sensitive to bitter, opt out of using any grapefruit and stick to the sweeter citrus.