Orange and Watercress Salad with Bok Choy or Belgian Endive

This festive salad featuring watercress and cucumber has a lively citrus flavor provided by fresh oranges and their juice. Choose between bok choy or Belgian endive. This is fantastic made with a spring orange like Ojai Pixie tangerines, though you can make it in the fall and winter with other seasonal citrus.

The ingredients for this lively salad might be available year-round, but with tender green veggies and citrusy notes, there’s something about it that announces, “spring has arrived!”

Other produce in this bracing salad includes a choice or baby bok choy or Belgian endives; watercress or green sprouts; red cabbage; and cucumber. The salad is topped with toasted nuts and dressed in an orange-lemon vinaigrette.

Ojai Pixie tangerines are perfect for this salad, since they’re one of the few oranges that ripen in the spring — March and April, to be exact. 

Ojai Pixies, which are amazingly juicy, sweet, and easy to peel, are available from Melissa’s and other outlets. They add a refreshing blast of flavor to salads like this one, and are great in fruit salads and for snacking just on their own. About Ojai Pixies, from the official website:

“Pixies ripen in the spring from the previous years bloom.  It takes 11 to 15 months for a blossom to grow into a ripe piece of fruit. Our little Ojai Pixies are therefore on the trees during California’s winter months and as they are small, they are quite susceptible to frost.”

All this being said, if Ojai Pixies are unavailable or out of season, feel free to substitute clementine or other seedless orange.

Explore more …

• Delectable Plant-Based Bok Choy Recipes
• Guide to Watercress
• Watercress Salad with Oranges and Cucumber
• Bok Choy and Daikon Salad with Greens & Oranges
• Spring Grain Bowls with Edamame, Bok Choy, and Oranges
• Watercress and Bok Choy Salad with Cherry Tomatoes

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Yield: 4 to 6

Spring Salad with Oranges & Bok Choy or Belgian Endive

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This classy salad is easy to make and has a lively citrus flavor provided by fresh oranges and their juice. 

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

Salad

• 2 baby bok choy or Belgian endives, thinly sliced
• 1 small bunch watercress leaves or a big handful of green sprouts (like pea shoots)
• 1/2 medium cucumber, sliced
• 1/2 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced
• 2 small sweet seedless oranges, such as Ojai pixie tangerines, peeled and sectioned (see Note)

Orange Vinaigrette

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Juice of 1/2 orange

To finish

• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted if desired

Instructions

1. Combine the salad ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss together. 
2. Combine the vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl and stir together. 
3. Toss the salad with the vinaigrette, and season gently with salt and pepper. 
4. Transfer the salad to a serving platter and top with the nuts. Let stand for a few minutes so that the flavors can blend, then serve.

Notes

When spring oranges like Ojai Pixie tangerines are out of season, feel free to swap another kind of small seedless orange like clementine.

Here are lots more easy, veggie-filled salads & sides and Fresh Spring Salads