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Blood oranges are in season- and they are delicious!

A friend noticed a citrus salad recipe in the New York Times food section. This particular salad was made with a grape fruit and a navel orange. She had bought some blood oranges and we paired them with a grape fruit. She had some olives in the house decided to top the salad with them. I am always happy with a pop of salty goodness. We made a simple dressing and enjoyed the salad.

I decided to replicate the salad for a dinner party. Trader Joes has an abundance of blood oranges. I love buying them- it reminds me of being in Italy. This past summer, while we were staying in Spello- we would do some basic grocery for breakfast. Usually we are a juice free house- but there I bought a carton of orange juice. My daughter was fascinated to see the dark red color of the juice- I explained to her the orange juice is made out of blood oranges- hence the color. The juice was delicious!

I cut the oranges into disks and topped them with the olives and feta. For some reason feta comes to mind when I think of citrus. I also remembered I had a orange muscat champagne vinegar from Trader Joes. I used that to make a delicious, clean dressing with a hint of honey.

The salad was delicious! Everyone loved it. I have a big bunch of blood oranges which I am planning to use them again. Definitely make the blood orange salad- you can even substitute regular oranges- any citrus will be delicious!
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This would be a perfect salad to serve for the Thanksgiving dinner. It has all the fall/holiday flavors going on. I have been using apples in everything I can. 

A friend was coming over for dinner and I was making lasagna. I decided to do a simple salad with sliced crunchy honey crisp apples. I then added cranberries- because you can’t have a holiday salad without them. Plus I love the sweet and tangy burst they provide to any dish.

I then started to think about the dressing. I love the combination of cranberries and orange- so I decided to squeeze a big naval orange and use that as a base. I added some apple cider vinegar and honey and soon had a delicious salad dressing.

The whole combination was delicious and went really well with the entree. It is quite versatile and will go beautifully with the big feast- enjoy!

• 4 cups mixed greens
• 1 large honey crisp apple, sliced thin
• ½ cup dried cranberries

Dressing

• 1 large navel orange, juiced
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

In a small bow, add the orange juice, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Whisk well and slowly drizzle the olive oil until thick and incorporated.

In a large bowl, add the greens, apples and cranberries. Add half of the dressing and mix well right before serving.

Family was visiting from Austin and wanted to eat something delicious, different and gourmet- what the heck was I supposed to make??

Risotto was discussed briefly and so I started thinking about arborio rice. How should I cook it and what should I serve with it? When I am coming up with a menu- I try to include a vegetable and a protein with the starch. I am thrilled to include all the food groups on one plate. 

My husband reminded me of the zucchini pesto in the fridge- “maybe you can add that to the risotto”, he said. Wow, I thought – all this cooking is rubbing off on him as well. What a great idea- that is what I did. I made a simple risotto with chicken broth and folded in some velvety zucchini pesto. 

What about the protein? We were in Trader Joes and my idea was to buy the marinated, frozen rack of lamb. It is delicious and very easy- just roast in the oven and serve. Turns out that some of them didn’t care for lamb- so it was back to the drawing board. I was walking around Trader Joes and came across tip steak. I decided to marinate the steak and make a salad with the arugula and serve them on top of the hot risotto. 

Well, the combination was delicious. I love cold salad on top of anything hot. In this case the bitter arugula was fabulous with the garlicky steak and the creamy risotto. It was a big success and everyone loved it. We drank a wonderful merlot with the meal- it is great spending time with family!
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I served this delicious relish with the chicken enchiladas. I love making guacamole but there is so much of it you can eat. Since I like to change things around, I came up with this. It is very simple yet extremely flavorful. It’s amazing, when the right ingredients are used, they can create a wonderful dish. 

In this case, only 5 ingredients were used. Lime, cilantro and salt make this dish savory with just the right amount of tartness. The ripe avocados are soft and creamy; the fresh corn is sweet and crunchy. The two together are an unbelievable combination. Now, obviously fresh corn is not available year round so I think frozen would be just fine. Actually roasted corn will be fabulous in here, the one Trader Joes has. Either way, the relish is delicious with any kind of meal- even for breakfast, with a side of scrambled eggs. Enjoy it with just plain old tortilla chips- yum!
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This salad is delicious. I have watched people on food television in the past making many different versions of it.Panzanella salad is essentially a way to use up day old or even up to a week old bread and any other things you may have in the fridge. Italian cuisine is well known for using leftovers and coming up with new, innovative dishes- I love it!

I had it first in Umbria last month when Paola made it for us. She made a 6 course meal for us- which was delicious. We started with this salad which she put together in a matter of minutes. We bought a big loaf of rustic bread earlier that day. She sliced it and topped it with a combination of greens, cucumbers, fresh extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. I have seen different versions of this – but never this particular one- so simple!

I was a bit hesitant to replicate this easy dish as I wasn’t sure if my ingredients would stand up to the one Paola used. I bought everything from the farmer’s market, including the bread. I made the salad the same day and served it with the sausage and peppers pasta. Well, it was delicious! The ingredients were fresh and exactly how they are supposed to taste. Everything worked really well together and the bread was soaked just the right amount and was a bit mushy and crunchy at the same time. I think you could definitely make a meal out of it- especially if you add some protein like shrimp or chicken.

It took me back to the kitchen in Spello where we sipped wine and watched Paola cooking. I love how food takes you back…
Click here for the recipe… »