Spinach, tomato, and orange vinaigrette salad

[Rael]

Starter for Sunday din...

Vinaigrette:
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Third of a cup red vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
Splash of balsamic vinegar
1 red chili pepper, finely sliced (I used a squeeze tube of it which works great also)
Orange zest

- Whisk oil, vinegars, and chili until they blend. Then add zest of ½ an orange into the mix.


Salad:
1 bag baby spinach leaves
1 ½ large, ripe beefsteak tomatoes
1 med red bell pepper, sliced finely
Pinch of kosher salt & ground black pepper
1 peeled orange (slices)
½ cup homemade vinaigrette
Pinch of oregano

Slice or wedge beefsteak tomatoes making sure they get a little salt/pepper on both sides. (I sliced the ½ tomato to dress the top of the salad, and wedged the other one to mix in). Toss into spinach leaves with sliced red peppers. Zest the remaining half of the orange which wasn’t used for the vinaigrette over the salad. Pinch of oregano on top of the salad, then lay the slices of orange on top.



Lovin' it.

 

[Rael]

Forgot to mention...

Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad before adding the oregano and placing the orange slices...

 

[vraiblonde]

Food porn!

 

[BushwoodGirl]

Forgot to mention...

Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad before adding the oregano and placing the orange slices...

Looks delicious..
I tried a rice, tomato and spinach (sauteed) dish last night and it was definitely lacking in flavor... Looking at your recipe, I am thinking some balsamic vinegar or orange zest would have helped ... I have gotten away from using much oregano lately... would basil work?

 

[Rael]

Food porn!

So I posted it on the wrong thread.. Wish there were more foodies on these boards, I'm absolutely loving this stuff lately. Starting to think on my own more instead of relying on recipes...starting to being the key. Still a relative newbie on understanding the balance of flavors..

Looks delicious..
I tried a rice, tomato and spinach (sauteed) dish last night and it was definitely lacking in flavor... Looking at your recipe, I am thinking some balsamic vinegar or orange zest would have helped ... I have gotten away from using much oregano lately... would basil work?

Thanks. It was tasty, and the orange zest (and orange slices) really did give it a good pop. I think basil would definitely work well. If not fresh (I have some old dried spices in the cupboard), I scrunch them up between fingers as I spread them to activate their flavor). Basil and tomato go together like peanut butter and chocolate to me. Oregano works too, but I'm finding that I have to be judicious with it or it'll be too overwhelming.

 

[acommondisaster]

You take very pretty food pictures!


I'm thinking some really thinly sliced soy marinated grilled flank steak would make that an entire meal. I love soy/orange combos.

My MIL told me that too much oregano can make a dish bitter - I think she's onto something.

 

[Rael]

You take very pretty food pictures!


I'm thinking some really thinly sliced soy marinated grilled flank steak would make that an entire meal. I love soy/orange combos.

My MIL told me that too much oregano can make a dish bitter - I think she's onto something.

Thanks!

And yours is a great idea, next time I'm going to try that.

 

[Rael]

Original post had inaccurate mix of O&V (it should have read 1/3 cup oil and 1/4 cup red vinegar (which I used today). Substituted a few ingredients today by adding mozzarella slices, I used yellow bell pepper slices, a combination of baby spinach leaves and spring mix lettuces, vine-ripened tomato wedges instead of beefsteak slices, and added a little honey to the vinaigrette.