Refreshing Spring Salad (Endive, Orange, Arugula, Apple, Pecan, & Blue Cheese)

In late winter and early spring, our fresh salad ingredients from the garden are long gone, so it’s delightful to make this recipe because these are ingredients that are tasty all year long. 

We first discovered this recipe during our annual goat-kidding week, when we’re anxiously awaiting and then celebrating as the does give birth. The salad has such a bright, uplifting flavor – it goes well with any uplifting event!

The citrusy orange, sweet apple, bitey arugula, nutty pecan, and spicy blue cheese al contribute flavors that make a complex and tasty salad perfect for accompanying dinner or even lunch by itself. 

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Endive, Orange, Arugula, Apple, & Blue Cheese Salad

Servings 6

Ingredients

To Make The Dressing

• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To Make The Salad

• 2 heads Belgian endive
• 1/2 cup pecan halves
• 1/4 lb blue cheese, crumbled
• 1 sweet apple, unpeeled, cored, medium-diced
• 4 ounces baby arugula
• 1 orange

Instructions

• 1. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. The original recipe called for 1 teaspoon salt and 1/3 teaspoon pepper. We don't use nearly that much salt.
• 2. Cut the endive heads in half lengthwise, remove the core at the base so the leaves separate, and cut the leave in half again lengthwise. Place the leaves in a large bowl, add the dressing, pecans, blue cheese, apple, and arugula. Toss. Add some of the zest from the orange into the salad, then peel the orange. Cut the orange sections between the membranes and add them to the salad (throw out the membranes). Serve.

Notes

Adapted from Adapted from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Foolproof