blood orange winter salad

Gahhh... beautiful, no? Pardon my food crush, but blood oranges are just so magnificent. Delicious and sultry. Where we are, they just came into season, and not a day too soon. I love them.

We eat them as-is... we shellac wild salmon with a soy-blood orange glaze (shall I post?)... Last year, I sliced them into Lillet cocktails when the weather turned warm. This year, I can't wait to try the Chez Panisse upside-down blood orange cake that Alice Q posted recently... and of course there are hearty winter salads. So far, every day this week for lunch, people. So, so good.



+++

Blood Orange Winter Salad
This isn't so much a recipe as a list of prepped ingredients... you can scale it up or down to suit your number of eaters.

:: Roasted beets, cooled, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
--> To roast: chop off tops (save for another use!), wrap each beet in foil and roast at 400˚ until easily pierced with a paring knife. I do about 3 bunches at once; they keep really well in the fridge.

:: Blood orange(s), carefully cut peel off with a paring knife and slice into 1/4"-thick rounds.
--> I usually go with 1 small-medium orange per person.

:: Walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

:: Good blue cheese
--> I like Point Reyes Original Blue

:: Cooked quinoa

:: Cilantro

:: Poppy seed-honey dressing
--> I've been keeping a container full of this stuff on hand at all times. Jacky likes it too. On beets, no less. (Yes, I'm elated!)

+++