This No Dressing Salad (winter edition) recipe was made with blood oranges, tomatoes, avocado and pumpkin seeds (pepitas). Such a great combination and refreshing enough to carry you through winter.
No Dressing Salad Recipe
You guys, I’m so excited! I love books and I finally purchased this book called, The Flavor Thesaurus, by Niki Segnit. When working on recipes, I always try to find a good balance of flavors that add salty, sweet, sour, bitterness and a touch of spice to most dishes. My process for recipes usually starts with having an idea for a dish or getting inspired by a recipe. My next step is to do research on my idea, this stage is when I study what flavor profile I can use to take some of my dishes to the next level. Some situations are harder than others so I was hoping this book would help in those times where I get stuck (I was so right).
My first No Dressing Salad recipe was so well received, I get many messages asking for substitutions or other combinations, so I decided to do a winter edition. I had an idea to make a kale and citrus salad, looked in my fridge to see what I had, wrote some initial ingredients on some paper and this gave me a chance to look through my new book for that missing ingredient!
Ingredients:
I started out with kale, mangoes, avocados and blood oranges on the list. I already knew that mangoes, avocado and citrus, such as orange go well together, but what cheese should I use for this? I was actually thinking goat cheese but when I looked in my new book for something that complimented citrusy items I was surprised to find cheddar. I just so happened to have shredded cheddar cheese in my fridge. Score! The rest of the ingredients in this salad are onion, cilantro, cherry tomatoes and pumpkin seeds.
Flavor Profiles:
To round out the flavor profiles we have a salty earthy flavor from the pumpkin seeds, sweetness from the oranges and the mango, sour from the lime, bitterness from the kale and finally a slight spice from the red onion. Now you have a peek into how I come up with some of my recipes.
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No Dressing Salad (winter edition)
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This No Dressing Salad (winter edition) recipe was made with blood oranges, tomatoes, avocado and pumpkin seeds (pepitas). Such a great combination and refreshing enough to carry you through winter.
Ingredients
- 3 cups of kale (finely chopped)
- 2 blood oranges chopped
- 1 mango chopped
- 1 avocado chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion
- 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (pepita seeds)
- 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon of lime juice
Instructions
- Chop kale and place in a medium sized bowl.
- Pour lime juice over the kale, making sure to fully cover.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir well.
Notes
I use my hands sometimes to make sure all of the lime gets on the kale, this will help soften it just a little.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Lunch
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: no dressing salad
