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Brighten up those gloomy days with this winter citrus salad! A mixed citrus lettuce salad with the most delicious citrus salad dressing! Use whatever citrus fruits you want!

winter citrus salad

Hooray, my first post of 2020! I’m sorry to be so cliché and post a salad…but I couldn’t help myself. Honestly, I think everyone’s New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier have less to do with the fact that it’s a new year, and more to do with the fact that they’re so tired of eating sugar and turkey and all of the other holiday foods!

At least, that’s how we always feel come January. Also, I’m SO ready for all of the bright and beautiful citrus! We’ve been blessed with a pretty mild winter so far and as much as I hope that it will continue, the 14-day forecast doesn’t look too promising. Boo! Enter all the sunshine in the form of citrus fruits! And this winter citrus salad.

So, what’s your favourite fruit season? I am 100% a lover of all things berry, but citrus fruits are a close second. I particularly love a big, juicy grapefruit, so when they’re in season I buy them by the bag! If you love grapefruit too, you’ve got to try my grapefruit scones!!!!

Let’s talk about this salad.

What kind of fruit can you use in this winter citrus salad?

I do call this a citrus salad and the dressing has some orange zest in it, but you definitely shouldn’t feel like you need to use oranges and grapefruits in your salad. You could also use berries, avocado and even chunks or slices of apple. For this particular salad, I used:

blood orange
cara cara
navel orange
grapefruit

If you’re not a fan of grapefruit, just substitute it for a different type of citrus fruit.

Can you make this winter citrus salad ahead of time?

You certainly can, but I would add the dressing no more than 24 hours before you plan to serve and eat it or things will start go get a bit soggy. I like to keep a giant bowl of the salad in the fridge, along with the fruits and pecans, and then add the goat cheese and dressing just prior to serving. That way I can eat it all week long!

winter citrus salad

As for the goat cheese, if that’s not your thing, you could swap it out for a different cheese or just leave it out altogether. Also, feel free to use this salad as a base and throw in your favorites! Hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds. I love tossing a bunch of texture in my salads!

I used my healthy candied walnuts recipe for this salad and I highly recommend you do the same 😉

So, do you have any New Year’s reolutions?

I won’t judge you if your resolution is to get healthy and exercise. Those are great goals! As for Etienne and I, we dont really have any. We’re trying to cut back on our refined-sugar intake, but that’s mainly due to the overload of sugar in December! Plus, we are chronic late-night snackers. Anyone else!? That’s a tough one for me to cut. I just love vegging out with some munchies!

Anyway, whatever your resolutions are or non-resolutions, you’ll love this winter citrus salad.

Happy New Year my friends!

winter citrus salad

Since I’ve already professed my love for citrus, I thought I’d share a few other recipe ideas for you:

And if it’s salads that you’re looking for, here’s more:

Or this cauliflower cashew salad from spabettie. Yum!

Winter Citrus Salad

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5 from 17 reviews

Author: Katherine | Love In My Oven
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings 1x

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Description

Brighten up those gloomy days with this winter citrus salad! A mixed citrus lettuce salad with the most delicious citrus salad dressing! Use whatever citrus fruits you want!

Ingredients

Scale

6–8 cups mixed greens (arugula, baby spinach, romaine)
1 blood orange, peeled and sliced
1 mandarin orange, peeled and sliced
2 cara cara oranges, peeled and sliced
1 grapefruit, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup healthy candied walnuts (or other candied nut)
1/2 cup goat cheese

Citrus Dressing

1/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp maple syrup (sub honey)
salt and pepper, to taste

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Instructions

In a large salad bowl, add the mixed greens, followed by the oranges and grapefruit slices. Toss in the candied nuts and goat cheese. Set aside (or store for later)*
Using a whisk, mix together all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over the salad and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

See notes below about make ahead recommendations. Prepared (with dressing) salad will keep in the fridge for 1-2 days, before the lettuce begins to wilt.

Notes

* If you don’t plan to serve the salad right away, I would recommend not adding the dressing until just before, or no more than 24 hours before. Store the prepared salad, covered, in the refrigerator to keep everything crisp.

**Feel free to customize this to your liking, with different fruits and/or types of oranges! Think about adding avocado, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, cucumber, etc.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Category: salads
Method: refrigerated