Have you ever eaten a salad somewhere and thought, “what is in this and why does it taste so good?!” Well, I have. Luckily, I think I figured it out. This citrus salad with kumquat vinaigrette is light, refreshing, and so, so good.
A couple weeks ago a friend and I went to the Food as Medicine symposium here in Portland. It was fantastic and there were some amazing speakers. I have so much to say about it that will come out through other blog posts, but for now, let’s talk about the catered lunch. It was catered by The Lamb’s Table, and a variation of this salad was part of what we were served. Food can taste different depending on your surroundings, and so being half a day into learning about the wonderful powers of food really primed my palate for a good meal. But this REALLY is awesome!
I had to piece meal this together in order to figure out how to recreate it, but I think I got pretty close, and this definitely has the same essence as their dish. I could eat this as a first course every night if I could. I have never done much with kumquats so experimenting with this vinaigrette was fun. I opted to use the whole fruit (sans seeds) and it resulted in a beautifully creamy dressing. This could be made with just the zest and/or juice of the kumquats, but I love how this turned out.
If you need another idea for what to do with all this winter citrus, make this salad. The parsley adds a great freshness, and the pistachios add a contrasting crunch and saltiness. Oranges and kumquats are ripe and in season right now, so their sweetness is perfection. What do you like to make with kumquats?
Citrus Salad with Kumquat Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Kumquat Vinaigrette
- 6 Kumquats
- 1 Tbsp. Apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
- 1 tsp. Honey
- 1 pinch Salt
Salad
- 4 cups Baby kale and chard
- 1/4 cup Parsley, chopped
- 1 Orange, peeled and segmented
- 1/4 cup Shelled pistachios
- 2 Kumquats, sliced thinly with seeds removed
Instructions
- Cut 6 kumquats in half and remove the seeds. Place these halves in a blender or food processor with the vinegar, oil, honey and salt. Blend until well combined, about 1-2 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine greens and parsley. Add the vinaigrette by the spoonful and mix until well dressed. Top with segmented oranges, shelled pistachios, and sliced kumquats.
