Blood Orange, Arugula, and Blue Cheese Salad

When we were looking for a salad to enjoy with our Valentine's Day dinner Paul said that he wanted something a bit different. We eat a lot of green salads - in fact, sometimes I fear that we are about to turn into a bowl of mixed greens at any moment. Different sounded good.

I found this recipe on epicurious.com. It was originally from the March 2001 publication of Bon Appetit. It came together quickly and the presentation was unusual and colourful..

This a wonderful treat if you make sure you use very ripe, very sweet blood oranges. I lucked out in that department, so the flavor combination was excellent (sweet and tart/tangy) . . . a hit with Paul and the guests we have served it to since Februaruy 14th (yes, we liked it so much we served it more than once in a week - unheard of for us!).  Mmmm... just don't forget to be picky about your blood oranges! The sweeter the better!

Blood Orange, Arugula, and Blue Cheese Salad

10 cups (packed) arugula (about 6 ounces)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 blood oranges
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Combine arugula and cheese in large bowl. Remove peel and white pith from oranges. Cut between orange membranes to release segments into bowl with arugula and cheese. Pour oil and lemon juice over; toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.

Comments

[Jane]

Jerry, this sounds and looks absolutely wonderful. I love it all. Do you really use blood oranges? I never see them here.

[Eden]

I was wondering how hard it will be to find blood oranges. I will be on the lookout for them at the farmers market this weekend. I do not eat enough green salad and I should.

[Eden]

Ok, what happened to my comment... here we go again... trying one more time.

I was wondering how hard it will be to find blood oranges. I will be on the lookout for them at this weekend's farmers' maket.

I want to try this. I do not eat enough green salad and I should!

[Candi]

This looks delicious,Jerry.
I've never had blood orange before, I will look for them.
I love salads too.

[Cindy Ruth]

I got my first blood oranges of the season last week in my CSA box. They were good, but not as sweet as they usually are. The grapefruit that I got sure were good though. I love blood oranges in salads, and this sounds like a good one.

[nancyhol]

I love ALL of those ingredients! Hope I can the blood oranges.

Thanks, Jerry!

[Anne]

Oh that sounds amazing, yum!!! Blood oranges are my favourites! And we have a "homegrown" blue cheese made here in NS that I will have to try with it. Dragon's breath blue, made by Willem van Denhoek. "That Dutchman" is the name of his farm/store, actually used to be called That Damned Dutchman, but a few years ago he dropped the Damned, which I thought was a shame because added character!

[Annie]

This looks delicious. Arugula is my favorite salad green so I'll have to try this.

Here in NC, our Whole Foods sometimes has blood oranges, for anyone looking for them.

[Marcia]

I'm pretty sure we can find a blood orange in citrusy CA, but I wouldn't be surprised if they came from somewhere else. Thanks for the recipe.

[JDeQ]

Blood oranges are coming into season now. The ones we used were from the US. Freaky that we can get them and you can't.

You could also use grapefruit or even regular oranges.

Anne - that cheese sounds great. Whre in NS is it produced?

Hunt those blood oranges down - they are a delicious thing. They make the most incredible juice as well.

[sandrac]

Jerry, that looks beautiful and I love the sound of a mix of tangy or tart and sweet.