Orange Salad-Insalata d'Arancia

Sicily is the home of citrus in Europe. Look in the side door of restaurants around the continent and you'll see Sicilian names on the fruit cartons like Paternò (CT), our Sicilian family's home town.

Flying into the Catania airport you see the presently very active volcano Etna, and miles of orange and lemon trees. The volcano erupted a few centuries back covering most of the southeastern side of Sicily, leaving 10 feet or more of lava and ash to enrich the soil of the future, the result being more oranges than you've ever seen in all of Florida.

In winter and early spring the oranges are in full swing, and so economical it is a shame not find some wonderful use to consume large quantities of them. Orange salad is one way.

We eat orange salad either plain with onion, or combined with sliced fresh fennel, or in this case with fennel and avocado (only in America though!). There are 'food rules' you must abide by. Orange salad is always dressed with olive oil and salt, but the acid changes depending on what else you're putting in. The main rule is, if you add fennel it must be lemon juice. Period.

Original orange salad:

10 naval oranges
1/2 bunch green onion, chopped
Or 1/4 cup thinly sliced red or white onion
Salt
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar.

Cut the ends off the oranges and then slice the skin off in strips, removing the white parts. Cut peeled orange in half, then each half in thirds and thirds again, making 9 bite sized pieces of each half. If you get the hang of this method you'll come to love it for cutting all kinds of fruit, like cantaloupe and watermelon.

Place oranges in glass bowl. Add chopped onion, mix, and dress with oil and vinegar and salt. Mix well and taste. It should be sweet and tangy with a taste of salt. Serve immediately or set aside for 30 min to blend flavors. Enough for 4-5.

Orange Fennel Avocado Salad

1/2 of a large fennel bulb
3 oranges, peeled and chopped as above
1 large avocado, seeded and cut in cubes.

Cut the fennel in half again, and slice thinly. Place in bowl with the orange bites, and dress with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Add the avocado at the end and toss immediately to coat with lemon. Taste and adjust dressing. A little extra salt is in order because of the avocado. Yum. Serves 4.

Don't skimp on the olive oil just because it seems odd to put it on fruit. You should see a little shine on the fruit from it after its mixed. Use good oil too. Nice and green. Lastly don't skimp on the salt, and use good salt. I like Real Salt, a little lighter flavor and full of minerals.

Enjoy!

Asian Greens Salad

It's recommended by oodles of nutritional therapists, dietitians, and special diets to increase the quantity of raw vegetables in our diet. Some say as much as 80% of what we eat should be in raw form.

Seems like a lot and, wow, how in the world is that even possible unless we turn into rabbits? It is possible. But you have to be creative. Those plain old spinach or iceberg salads with a chopped tomato and maybe a little onion get really old unless slathered with fat laden processed dressings. And nobody wants that.

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This salad was shared with me by a vegetable co-op member and has morphed into something that we make just to keep in the fridge for snacks and lunches.

You can make it with bokchoy, green cabbage, even rainbow chard. I've done them all and they're all great. It holds up well for a few days even dressed, staying crisp and getting even more flavorful.

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Asian Greens Salad

In a bowl put:
1 whole green cabbage (chopped fine-I use the grated blade on the food processor), or 2 bunches chard or a large bokchoy(chopped)
1-2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 bunch green onion, sliced (can sub some thin sliced red or white onion)
1/2 c chopped, sliced or slivered raw organic almonds (or walnuts or cashews)
1/2 c raisins or dried cranberries

In a separate bowl, whisk together:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 c olive oil
1/3 c rice wine vinegar (or apple cider vin)
1-2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/4 c sugar

Dress salad and toss. Store covered in fridge. It's great if you can leave it 30 min or more to macerate. Better still the next day. Did I mention that a whole cabbage lasts our family of 5 no more than a day and a half? Just sayin'. Yum. Enjoy!

Arugula, Rucola, Rocket: Arugula Parmesan Salad

I love Arugula. So do my kids.

We can pass a field or someone's garden and someone will brighten up and exclaim "They have Rucola!".

It's spicy green fragrance is unmistakeable. But who in the world convinced us that the spindly wimpy stick of a green that is sold as 'baby arugula' in stores and restaurants, is the GOOD stuff? It's not.

Real Arugula is a hearty, spinach textured green with a similar stem to leaf ratio. I find it in the organics at HEB in the head lettuce section, but not many other places. It's amazing.

Arugula Parmesan salad

Wash a bunch of Arugula. Trim stems and tear leaves into bites. Place in bowl.
Add thinly sliced red onion strips and toss. For dressing, the perfect one is a light salting with some Real Salt, a sprinkling of dark green olive oil, and about half a lemon's juice.
Toss, and before serving add in shavings of Parmesan. Can't beat it.  
Ok, maybe by choosing a Tropea Red Onion from Calabria Italy's onion region Tropea... Scrumptious and will change your life...or at least your view of red onions.

Don't settle for wimpy Arugula...good Arugula will give you a salad your family will ask for.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

The strange juxtapositioning of contrary flavors, contrary textures, is what makes this the perfect dessert, luncheon salad or just excuse to indulge.
Salty and sweet.
Crunch and creamy smoothness.

This is truly an American obsession. We like things mixed up. In Italy people turn their noses up at our weird foods, then proceed to ask for seconds. And thirds.

There is no Jello in Italy. They don't have frozen strawberries either. I made this dish one Thanksgiving out of necessity.  After all, Thanksgiving tradition in our family REQUIRES it.  Period. My subsequent making-due with what I could find resulted in an all natural mixed berry version. A well-known doctor was our guest. As I explained my dish to the Italians present they all turned up their noses as I'd predicted. The good doctor was brave and tried it, and pronounced it inedible. To which I, astounded, tried to convince the others to at least try it! They didn't. Later the doc cornered me and scolded me for ruining her effort to keep the whole dish to herself! The others had seen her getting seconds and thirds, caught her deception and finished the dish. Too funny.

Pretzel Salad
2c thin pretzels, crushed
3 tbsp sugar
3/4c melted butter
Mix all in a 13x9 glass dish and bake 7-8 min 400 or till lightly browned. Cool completely (or your cream cheese won't spread!)

1c sugar
8oz cream cheese
3 cups whipped cream
Mix and Top crust when cooled.

20-24 oz froz sliced strawberries or other berries
1x6oz strawberry jello and 2 cups boiling water, OR 2 cups currant juice and 3 tsp powdered gelatin

Boil water. Add jello. Mix till dissolved. (OR heat currant juice and add gelatin to dissolve.) Take off heat, add frozen berries. Break up berries and stir till melted and pour over cream cheese.

Cover with plastic wrap.
Chill 3-4 hours. Cut in squares.

One 13x9 recipe will feed a family of 5...because we eat it as a salad and then as a dessert!