Inspired by the bounty of beautiful citrus this time of year, this Winter Citrus Salad with Orange Honey Dressing is just as delicious as it looks. This Winter salad combines the beauty of red romaine lettuce, Cara Cara oranges, cucumbers, jalapeños, pomegranate arils, mint, cilantro and oregano. All topped with my Orange Honey Dressing. Many of you are probably thinking the exclusion of avocado is a major miss, but I just wasn’t feeling it with this salad and I’m glad I didn’t add it. It’s the right amount of Citrus, texture and color. How about that color?!

Winter Citrus Salad on plate with burgundy napkin

On the day that I created this salad, we cooked a Santa Maria Style BBQ with grilled Tri-tip, Pinquito Beans and fresh baked bread from Gusto Bread in Long Beach. I skipped the salsa today and also the plain green salad and opted for a Winter Citrus Salad. This one hit all the marks: Red romaine lettuce, Cara Cara Oranges, cucumber, jalapeño, Pomegranate arils, cilantro, fresh oregano and mint. I topped it with my Orange Honey dressing and well, it was indeed the perfect companion to this excellent Saturday meal.

Types of Winter Citrus

For me, citrus always seems to make me think of Summer. It’s yellow and bright and seems so aligned with the summer months. We can get citrus all year around but in the Winter is when all of the novelty citrus are available. Blood oranges, Cara Cara Oranges, Mandarin, Pomelo, Meyer Lemons, Satsuma Tangerines, Grapefruit, Key Limes just to name a few. My favorites are Blood and Cara Cara oranges. The colors and sweetness just cannot compare. So this is one of my absolute favorite seasonal ingredients and this bright sunny salad will brighten any cold dull day.

How to Make This Winter Citrus Salad with Orange HOney dressing

Another seasonal favorite of mine is Red Romaine lettuce. It’s more tender than it’s green counterpart, a more delicate flavor and texture. It’s the perfect lettuce for this salad. If you can’t find it, use red leaf lettuce, butter or baby gem lettuce.

Start by washing and drying about half a head of leaves, around 8 leaves. I like to leave them whole.

Now lets prepare the oranges, pictured below is a regular orange and how I cut them for this type of salad.

orange on board — Carefully slice the peel and pith off orange

sliced orange — Carefully slice the peel and pith off orange

Now for the rest of the goodies. I use regular cucumber for this salad, seeds and all. You can use English or Persian cucumbers. Peel and slice them. I used Pomegranate arils in this salad. You can buy the pomegranate arils or buy a whole Pomegranate. One fruit yields a lot of seeds. They are great as a snack, on salads, or in cocktails like my Pomegranate Blood Orange Cocktail. Next is a fresh, sliced jalapeño pepper, and lots of herbs! Cilantro, Mint and Oregano! No substituting for dry herbs here, you must use fresh!

Arrange the lettuce on a platter first, then add cucumber slices, orange slices, jalapeño slices, generously sprinkle pomegranate arils on the salad. And finally top with lots of herb leaves. Remove the leaves from the stems and sprinkle generously. Add the dressing right before serving. This Winter Citrus Salad does not keep long after dressing it, so make sure to eat every tangy, delicious bite!

Winter citrus salad with serving utensils

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