Green and Yellow Salad with Orange Vinaigrette Packs a Crunch and a Punch

We’re rolling in oranges again, as our backyard tree has provided its bright, seasonal bounty. I didn’t take a great picture of the harvest this year, but here’s one from a few years ago that I love.

It’s fun to find new ways to use the ultra-sweet juice our generous tree provides. Last night, it was a super-quick, very easy salad made from what we had on hand, which was corn, arugula and fennel. I hypothesized that the crunchy characters could play nicely together with the arugula, especially with a vinaigrette that sported orange juice, a little cider vinegar and Dijon for punch and some honey to mellow it out.

I was right! The Grill-Meister was the judge… he’s always the judge when it comes to anything that has vegetables in it, and he’s a pretty tough grader, my friends. He gave the salad his full blessing, and it worked well alongside Paul Prudhomme’s Blackened Tilapia, which we have at least once a month.

Green and Yellow Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

Serves 4, Cooking Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

Salad

• 2 cups arugula, packed
• 1 cup sliced and then diced fennel, including parts of the bulbs, stems and feathery leaves (reserve a few feathery leaves for garnishing)
• 2 cups fresh corn kernels, sliced from the cob (about 3 medium cobs)
• 3 green onions, sliced

Orange Vinaigrette

• 1/4 cup orange juice, fresh if possible
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions

Combine the salad ingredients in a medium bowl, and stir to mix. Combine the first five vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl and use a fork or whisk to mix well. Right before serving, pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss well, then add freshly ground pepper. Garnish with the reserved feathery fennel fronds.

Notes: the Orange Vinaigrette dressing is a really nice blend of salty-sweet-tangy, but it will taste a little salty until it is mixed with the salad ingredients. It has just the right amount of salt for the entire salad. A white balsamic vinegar would be great in place of the cider vinegar. Diced tomato and/or carrots would add more color if you want to give the salad more visual brightness, but I was really happy with the green and yellow theme. Be sure not to add the dressing until just before you serve the Green and Yellow Salad, to keep the arugula from wilting.

Join Me in the Kitchen

If decide to make the Green and Yellow Salad with Orange Vinaigrette and you want to have the tilapia with it, the recipe is below. Let me know what you think!

© 2021, Glover Gardens