Occasionally the fruit stand I frequent will have blood oranges and this past Saturday was one such occasion. I don’t know but maybe they are in season.
I have always thought blood oranges looked really, really cool when you cut them open so I bought a few. Great reason, right? Well after cutting them apart and marveling at the color, then showing the wife and kids how awesome the color contrast was (all while they pretended to be unimpressed) I realized that I should put these to better use. But what to do?
Eureka! I will invent a Blood Orange Vinaigrette recipe! Or so I thought. I toiled away in the kitchen, adjusting and re-adjusting ingredients and ratios and finally arrived at this. My masterpiece. The first person ever clever enough to use the strangely unique blood orange in a vinaigrette and it tasted good I might add. Damn effing good. Look out Food Network! Look out Bobby Flay!
I then made a salad of fresh red leaf lettuce, red bell peppers, red onions and naval orange wedges (OK by this time I was out of the blood oranges). All of which got topped off with slices of grilled sirloin steak. Magnifico! Muhahaha!
The meal was yummy and satisfying but as I basked in my own glory, with a full belly, I thought, “Maybe I should Google Blood Orange Vinaigrette recipes” just in case. 37,400 results. Oh well. Not as clever and inventive as I thought. But no matter. The dressing tasted excellent and well, the blood oranges did look cool. Right kids? Kids? Honey?
Where did everyone go? 
INGREDIENTS:
- 3/4 cup fresh blood orange juice
- 2 tablespoons minced shallot
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Creole mustard (sub Dijon)
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 tablespoon honey
- salt
- fresh ground pepper
PREPARATION:
You can do this the easy way or the hard way.
Easy: Put all ingredients but the oil, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Turn it on and drizzle in the oil, then add salt and pepper to taste.
Hard: Same deal as above but with a whisk, a bowl, and an extra arm.
Please note that the measurements are approximate. You may need to tweak it some with the little bit more of this or that but this is a good starting point.
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Love this vinaigrette! Fabulous photos. Now if I can just find some blood oranges. Love citrus dressings.
This is a great idea for vinaigrette. I rarely buy salad dressings anymore. It doesn’t matter if they’re made with natural or artificial ingredients, for most brands are too sweet and flat on the flavor. Most salads are fine with a drizzle of olive oil, a splash of flavorful vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon/lime juice. Of course, that is basic vinaigrette. Coming across a recipe using blood oranges in vinaigrette is inspiring. I’ll bet it’ll taste delicious on a Mexican salad.
Hi Sanura, I am with you. I can’t believe anyone would still buy salad dressing. Like you said, it so easy to make and the results are far superior.
I LOVE this dressing of yours!
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Thanks Jan
Oh the vinaigrette looks great! I love blood oranges and I bet this dressing is tasty!
Sook @ My Fabulous Recipes´s last blog ..Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Very tasty, and light too!