Cooking: Blood Orange, Feta and Spinach Salad with Pine Nuts (Recipe)

How do blood oranges create so much drama? Oranges, like apples, seem the most common of fruits--a bit boring really, compared to something like a blackberry. But cut open an orange to find blood red flesh and you are suddenly holding something entirely different! They are shocking, really. Maybe because they are scarce. 

When we travel in Europe (which isn't often enough) we love having blood orange juice instead of regular OJ. It's so plentiful over there. I remember buying bottles of it at the grocery store for our girls when we were in Italy. And it didn't seem like a splurge.

Maybe the blood oranges will become more common here too, if Target is any indicator. I've been picking up bags of them in their produce section this Winter. Which brings me to this salad.  It's spinach, feta, pine nuts, blood oranges and a pink champagne vinaigrette. Sounds pretty dressy doesn't it? I made it for some girl friends and it was so simple to put together.

Click through for the recipe and tips for cutting the blood oranges.

BLOOD ORANGE, FETA AND SPINACH SALAD WITH PINE NUTS

• Pre-washed baby spinach
• Pine nuts
• Feta
• Blood oranges peeled and sliced into rounds
• Salt and pepper
• Pink champagne vinaigrette (recipe below)

The quantities are up to you. Toss the spinach in the vinaigrette, season with salt and pepper, and then mix in the other ingredients, or arrange everything beautifully on top of the spinach and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Either way it's delicious!

To prepare the blood oranges, first slice off the top and the bottom so it will sit flat on a cutting board.

Then use a knife to "peel" the orange by slicing off the skin and pith in vertical pieces all the way around the fruit.

Then turn the orange on its side and slice. I like mine about 1/4 inch.

Arrange on top of salad and admire the beauty you've created.

Pink Champagne Vinaigrette:

1/3 cup pomegranate juice, such as Pom (or substitute orange or blood orange juice)
1/3 cup champagne vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 T chopped shallot
1 whole small blood orange, peeled and cut into four sections
2 t honey
Freshly ground salt and pepper

Put all ingredients into the blender and blend well to combine. This is a delicious fruity vinaigrette with a bit of a bite from the shallot.