GASTRONORMOUS

This is a salad inspired in part by one my mom makes and in part by the specialty oils and vinegars I happened to have in my kitchen cupboards on a recent evening.

A salad of avocados and oranges may sound like an odd combo, but the creaminess of the avocado balances out the bright acid of the orange in such a blissful way that I think it must be no accident that the two fruits grow in the same climes–it is as if Mother Nature intended them to be eaten together.

The mandarin oil I mentioned in a previous post I thought would work well here for obvious reasons, but since it was a little too orangey last time, I decided to cut it with another oil. I was just going to use some good quality extra virgin, when a tin of chili-flavored olive oil on the shelf caught my eye. (I am not so into store bought flavored oils generally–these were both gifts, actually–but these from O&CO. are of very good quality, and the chili one especially is very versatile.) The slight spiciness would add just the touch of intrigue I was looking for. But then! I saw that I was completely out of white wine vinegar. Quelle dommage! And the cider vinegar I had just would not do. But what was the slender orange-capped bottle stashed in the verrry back of the top shelf of the cupboard? Ah! It was rice vinegar with chili flakes! That might just work, it might just work perfectly.

The salad ended up being a great combination of sweet-salty-creamy-fresh-and-spicy (whew!), with none of the tastes or textures overpowering the others. I hope you try and enjoy it.

Sweet and Spicy Avocado-Orange Salad

For the dressing:

2 T. chili-flavored olive oil
2 T. mandarin-flavored olive oil
2 T. seasoned rice vinegar with pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. chili pepper paste
A few grinds black pepper
a pinch of salt, optional

For the salad:*

4-6 cups of mixed salad greens, cleaned and spun/dried
2-3 scallions, sliced
1 ripe avocado, cut into cubes
1 large orange, sectioned, then sections cut crosswise in half or thirds

Whisk together in a large glass bowl all the ingredients for the dressing, except for the salt. Taste dressing, then add a pinch of salt (and adjust other flavors to your taste), if needed.**

While the dressing rests, slice the scallions, cube the avocado, and section the orange (I did this the fancy way, which makes for better eatin’–no tough membranes. Psst! It is also faster than peeling by hand!). When you cut the sections out, hold the orange over the dressing bowl to catch all the juices.

Give the dressing another quick whisk before throwing in the avocado, scallions and orange sections. Toss very gently so as not to mush the avocado. Put the greens in a salad bowl, spoon the avocado-orange mixture onto the greens and toss. (You don’t want to just dump the entire bowl’s contents into the greens as it may be very liquidy.) After you toss with the greens, assess the dressing situation and add some of the reserved dressing from the glass bowl if necessary.

*Next time, per the good suggestion of the Hubs, I would add some sliced celery and toasted nuts (pecans or walnuts would be especially good). That would add a nice bit of crunch that this salad lacked. Add the celery with the avocado-orange-scallion step; the nuts should be tossed in right before serving.

** The rice vinegar I used has salt and corn syrup in it (I know, yuck, bad for you.), so be sure to taste the dressing before adding salt.  If you use an unsweetened rice vinegar, then add a couple pinches of superfine sugar too.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Food musings, Recipes, Weeknight recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.