Blood Orange & Caper Salad
By Lee Jackson ↣ Published on: May 5, 2024
It’s summer on a plate with this delicious salad from Sicily. Vibrant, sweet blood oranges combined with tangy capers are a marriage made in heaven. This quick and easy salad brings a ray of sunshine to any dinner table.
In Sicily, the citrus is abundant - lemons and oranges appear not only in the landscape, but in the food and cooking too. When they're in season, blood oranges are the perfect ingredient for drinks and salads. They're unique appearance and sweet tangy flavour are a wonderful partner to another much-loved Sicilian ingredient, capers.
The two ingredients work so beautifully together; sweet and salty are nothing short of ingenious. This salad is one of of my simple go-to recipes that I'll make whenever I want a fresh, summery element to my table. I serve it alongside other vegetable dishes and with meats, particularly chicken or with fish and seafood too.
It's one of my favourite salads to make in advance too, up to a day before - it keeps well in the fridge and helps avoid panic if I'm preparing lots of dishes for a dinner. Whenever blood oranges are in season I'll make this salad, but I often just use regular sweet oranges or mandarines instead.
What's Ahead?
Why it works?
It's quick and easy - this versatile salad is particularly helpful for me as it's so simple to arrange. I just love a sweet/savoury salad as part of a dinner - it really adds a delicious counterbalance to the flavours of other Italian or Mediterranean style dishes. It's bright, zingy, healthy and fresh.
Stuff You'll Need and How To.
This salad doesn't call for anything out of the ordinary.
- Oranges - This recipe used blood oranges, but any regular orange or mandarin will work too. I dare say, pink grapefruit would work too or a combination of the two.
- Capers - Salty and tangy flavours counteract the sweetness of the oranges perfectly.
- Extra Virgin Onlive Oil and Lemon - The dressing brings a fragrant zing to the oranges to lift them up even further.
- Red Onion - A few slithers of onion tossed in the dressing add a nice touch to bring it a little further into savouriness.
- Mint - One final touch of aromatic mint pairs splendidly with all the other ingredients.
This salad is simple - just remove the skins from the oranges with a sharp knife then cut into thin slices. Arrange these on a platter in a single layer.
Whisk together the lemon juice with any excess orange juice, olive oil and a little salt & pepper. Toss the sliced onion in a little of the dressing and arrange on top of the orange slices. Scatter over the capers and then pour over all the dressing. Finally, scatter over some chopped mint and season with a little more salt & pepper. That's it! You're good to go.
Serving & Storage Suggestions
- This salad is a great make-ahead option as there's nothing in there that will wilt or lose flavour. In fact, those oranges will be even more delicious after a little while in the dressing. You can make it up to a day in advance and keep refrigerated, well covered in plastic wrap.
- Leftovers will be fine for 3-4 days in the fridge, coevred. It's not suitable for freezing.
- I'll serve this salad with pretty much anything and everything. It's particularly delicious alongside some grilled fish or chicken. It pairs well with other salads or cooked vegetables too.
Ready to get started?
OK, so now you can see just how simple and versatile this little Sicilian orange and caper salad is, it's really up to you what you pair with it. It's the perfect al fresco summer dish for sunny BBQs and will freshen any dinner table with a burst of summer zing and freshness. One of the family favourites, this orange salad will fast become one of yours too... enjoy the recipe!
More Italian recipes
If you liked this recipe for Orange & Caper Salad, I'm sure you'll love some more of my favourite Italian recipes too.Oh, and you might also want to try this delicious Moroccan Blood Orange & Olive Salad if you have any leftover oranges.
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Ingredients
- 4 blood oranges skin and pith removed and thinly sliced
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ lemon juice of
- ¼ cup red onion thinly sliced
- ¼ cup capers
- salt & pepper
- Fresh mint
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife, remove the skin and pith of the oranges. Carefully slice into thin slices and arrange on a large serving platter in a single layer.
- Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and any excess orange juice along with just a little salt and pepper.
- Toss the sliced onion in about 2 tbsp of the dressing then scatter over the oranges.
- Add the capers to the top of the salad then pour over the dressing to coat evenly.
- Sprinkle over the fresh mint then give a final sprinkle of salt and pepper.
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