Arugula Salad with Grape, Blood Orange, & Goat Cheese with a Honey & Hazelnut Vinaigrette
"Please, can I have some more?" Do those famous words sound familiar? Well, aside from Oliver, you too will be uttering those words once you try out this incredible arugula salad with grape, blood orange, and goat cheese, dressed in a honey and hazelnut vinaigrette.
Where to start?
The dressing or the salad? They are both so good, and totally different from my Spring Cucumber Salad with Mint and Mandarin, or my Easy Greek Salad with Fresh Lemon and Thyme.
Although, this arugula salad is also easy to make!
Okay, if you've never had hazelnut and grape together, you have to try it! It will remind you of peanut butter and jelly, but like ten times better. And no, this arugula salad doesn't taste like PB&J. But let's start there. First, take a bite of grape with the hazelnut. Then, add a small piece of blood orange and a goat cheese crumble. That's how I first started testing the flavors. And yes, the combination of tangy and sweet and crunchy and creamy was delicious.
But then...
Add some honey! Because, somehow, the dressing totally became the star of this dish. And I will definitely be using it for more than just this arugula salad. By the way, I also grew up eating peanut butter and honey, and hazelnut, once again beat out the peanuts. You would think the combination of so many flavors in this arugula salad would be too much. Instead, it is a brilliant depth of flavors. The combination of the peppery arugula, the semi-sweet blood orange and grape, the tangy goat cheese, and the crunchy hazelnut blends nicely, with a variety of texture. And none of the flavors overpowers the other. But then, when you add just a tablespoon of the powerful, and slightly acidic hazelnut and honey vinaigrette, the arugula salad goes from just harmonious to a vibrant, explosion of flavor that you will be dreaming about for days. And, to turn this into a full meal, just add some protein like grilled chicken or tofu. Those milder flavors will work perfectly with this salad. Enjoy!
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Additional Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
For the Salad
10 oz Arugula
5 oz Red Seedless Grapes, Chopped in Fourths
1 Medium Blood Orange, Chopped
15 Hazelnuts, Halved or Chopped, Optional For Texture
2.5 oz Goat Cheese, Crumbled
Additional Protein, Chicken or Tofu, Optional
For the Dressing
1 oz Hazelnuts, Crushed/Ground into Fine Flour/Powder
1 TBSP White Wine Vinegar
1 TBSP Honey
Juice from 1/4 of One Lemon
1 TBSP Olive Oil, Optional. You may also use an additional tablespoon of water in place of this.
2 TBSP Water
Instructions
For the Salad
Combine arugula, chopped grapes, chopped blood orange, halved hazelnuts, and crumbled goat cheese to a bowl.
Lightly toss to evenly combine.
Add dressing.
For the Dressing
Crush hazelnuts into flour using a coffee grinder and set aside. See notes.
Add white wine vinegar, lemon juice, and honey to a small pot or stove-safe measuring cup over low heat.
Stir until honey dissolves and becomes liquid.
Add the crushed hazelnuts, and stir until smooth.
Remove from heat, and add olive oil (if being used) and water.
Cool before enjoying.
Notes
To crush the hazelnuts you can also use a mortar and pestle, or blender, but the coffee grinder will work best in this case due to the small amount of nuts needed, plus their size and texture.
The dressing is very bold. I recommend starting with a teaspoon on salad, and adding more as needed.
For the dressing, cool before eating. It is such a small amount that it will cool quickly. If you make the dressing first it will be ready to enjoy by the time you are done making the salad.
Nutritional information is based on 1 serving of salad, with 1/2 a tablespoon of dressing.
Nutritional information includes the halved hazelnuts in the salad, and the olive oil in the dressing. For lower fat content, omit.
Nutritional information does not include the addition of protein.
