Posted on by Deb

Salad of Romaine and Oranges

Romaine Orange Salad

In this Salad of Romaine and Oranges, crunchy lettuce and sweet oranges play well with briny olives and the crunch of chubby walnuts tossed in a simple vinaigrette. This is the kind of salad that demands second servings and will disappear every time you make it.

Romaine and Oranges

“In March the soft rains continued, and each storm waited courteously until its predecessor sank beneath the ground. The warmth flooded the valley and the earth burst into bloom—yellow and blue and gold.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

This Salad of Romaine and Oranges fills our craving for fresh greens and bright flavors while we wait in anticipation for spring. Its that in between time. Feels like spring, bright sunshine and everything has turned green. But the mornings are still cold and more rain is on the way. Then it still feels like winter. The seasons here are late and get jumbled with influence from the great Pacific Ocean. The one thing that is constant, never flinching or wishy washy is citrus season. Every year oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes arrive to brighten the dull colors and flavors of winter cooking.

Making Salad of Romaine and Oranges

The Salad of Romaine and Oranges is simple enough to make. Sweet orange plays well with the briny green olives and the crunch of toasted walnuts. Vibrant Romaine lettuce is dressed with a simple vinaigrette while paper thin slices of red onion are scattered across the salad. Chunks of feta cheese would be a marvelous, grilled chicken for even more protein. This is the kind of salad that demands second servings and will disappear every time you make it.

Romaine Lettuce

Salad Dressing
1T red wine vinegar
2T olive oil
1T maple syrup or honey
1/8t fine grain sea salt
Salad of Romaine and Orange
1 head romaine lettuce
1 orange, peeled & sliced into bite sized pieces
2T sliced green olives
2T chopped walnuts, toasted is best
2T very thinly sliced red onion
  1. In a large bowl that will accommodate the entire salad make the dressing. Add the red wine vinegar and slowly whisk in the olive oil. Then whisk in the maple syrup or honey and salt.
  2. Chop or tear the cleaned lettuce into bite size pieces and add to the bowl with the dressing. Add most of the orange and green olives, saving some to garnish the finished salad. Toss the salad to coat everything with the dressing. Add the walnuts and red onion. Plate the salad individually or on a serving platter. Sprinkle the salad with the reserved orange and green olives. Scoop any remaining dressing from the bowl across the top of the salad. Alternately, the dressing can be drizzled over the salad or even served on the side.

Life

I’ve been gone from this spot for longer than I’d planned. My creative energy spent on finishing a quilt I started in the fall. Of course it took longer than I thought it would. I had to will it finished. Make demands of myself. Finish it, rookie mistakes and all. When it was almost done, I wanted to stop again. Reminding myself that it was all practice and learning. I gave myself permission to finish.

Quilt 9 Patch Pizzazz

Quilt Detail

We have a new grandson, Landon Gregory Terrell was born on Valentine’s Day! Our daughter was in labor a very long time. I was there for 18 hours of it, stitching on that quilt. The quilt came with me to work on. I knew I would need to keep my hands busy and calm my emotions. The plan was to use only black thread. At some point the needle was filled with hot pink thread and it stayed that way until Landon was born. Hot, neon pink isn’t a favorite color, I’m sure the choice had to do with circumstance. A lot was happening and I had been counseled to be quiet and calm. I was, but my stitching wasn’t. Daughter and baby are doing well and the quilt is finished! It wasn’t a perfect birth or a perfect quilt. Even though life never turns out the way we plan, there is much to celebrate.

Landon Gregory

Landon, three weeks

Landon's Toes

27 Replies to “Salad of Romaine and Oranges”

  2. Welcome back and congratulations! What a fine looking lad he is and what a wonderfully beautiful quilt. I have fond memories of my granny setting in her rocking chair stitching a quilt. We still have it laying on our guest bed. But, it’s not near as lovely as yours. I love the colors in yours.
    Great salad, as soon as our local crisp lettuce comes in it’ll be on the table. Thanks so much for sharing.

    1. Thank you Ron! Quilting has become quite modern, but of course traditional quilting is still in vogue too.

  3. What a beautiful salad! Simple and straightforward, yet unusual and tempting. Congratulations on the quilt and of course on the grandbaby.

  4. Whoops – I got so excited about the grandson and the quilt that I forgot about the salad. I love this salad! It’s so simple and I love lettuce salads with fruit and nuts.

  5. Congratulations on your new grandson!!! He’s gorgeous! Sorry your daughter had such a hard delivery. I had a niece that went through that with her first child. Now she just pops them out. 🙂 The Quilt … I’m speechless. It is absolutely beautiful! I would love to learn more about how you made it. It looks like a pieced quilt but then, it isn’t exactly a pieced quilt. A couple of years ago I started getting back into quilting after a 30 years lay off and it’s exciting. I love quilting and I love your quilt, so I would love to learn more about it. Would you send me an email with a little more information about your process (when you have time)? Thanks!

    1. Thank you MJ! Yes, it is a pieced quilt. The pattern is 9-patch Pizzazz. The quilt has three large blocks as the focal point, those are the blocks that are hand stitched.

  6. Where to start…but of course it has to be your beautiful grandson. Congratulations! Second, I love the quilt especially with the hot pink treads. Last but not least, I’ll be making your salad soon. I make a similar one but like the idea of walnuts in it. Thank you.

  8. Congratulations, Deb! What a darling little guy — so tiny and perfect.
    Being a big citrus lover, I ‘m loving this beautiful salad. And those green olives are the icing on the cake. 🙂
    And your work on the quilt is lovely. It’s so pretty.

  10. I love citrus in salads! And citrus goes really well with olives — such a great flavor combo. This looks terrific — neat recipe. And neat post — good to see to post again.

  11. The salad sounds delicious! I will be trying this. I love your quilt! Thanks for sharing! And, oh so precious little Landon! A bundle of joy! Happy that it all turned out well in the end! Congratulations!

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