Spanish Salad

5 from 1 vote

This Spanish Salad is made with green olives, orange segments, toasted almonds and kumquats and dressed in an olive oil champagne vinaigrette.It is inspired by my time living in Spain using ingredients that literally grew around me on a daily basis.

Prep Time15

Cook Time5

Total Time20

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Mediterranean, Spanish

Servings:

Calories: 498kcal

Author: Lauren Skardal

Ingredients

Salad

5 oz mixed greens
1 cup Spanish or Greek olives pitted or not pitted depending on your preference
Orange Segments, from 3 oranges orange remnants reserved and squeezed into the dressing
1 cup kumquats, sliced optional
½ cup almonds, sliced

Dressing

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoon champagne vinegar
2 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
pinch salt
orange juice squeezed from leftover segmented oranges

Instructions

Salad

Add the mixed greens to a large salad bowl. Top with the olives, orange segments, and sliced kumquats (if using). See the post above for how to segment an orange.
Bring a saucepan to medium heat (a temperature of 4 out of 10 on an electric stove, or the equivalent on a gas stove). Add a dash of olive oil and the sliced almonds. Toast for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until lightly browned. Add the toasted almonds to the salad.

Dressing

In a medium bowl whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, champagne vinegar, honey, shallot, mustard, and a pinch of salt.
Take the remaining remnants of the segmented oranges and squeeze them to release any extra juice into the bowl with the dressing. Whisk to combine.

Assembling

Drizzle the dressing over the salad. You may not need all the dressing, go little-by-little until you are satisfied with the amount. Toss the salad and serve.

Notes

Green Spanish or Greek Olives: Spanish olives are sometimes harder to find, but Greek olives are quite close. They should be darker in color (not the bright green olives) and sometimes they are mixed with black or brown olives. You can use pitted or not pitted, depending on your preference. Pitted is easier of course when eating a salad, but I never saw them served pitted in Spain, and that’s what I got used to.
Orange Segments: The step-by-step photos below show how to segment an orange. Take out the orange fruit from the tougher white pith, which leaves you with super tender juicy orange segments. The leftover orange pieces are squeezed over the dressing to add a citrusy touch.
Kumquats: These are like mini oranges, the size of a grape tomato, and they can be eaten whole! Though not native to Spain, these are easy to find in Barcelona, but much more challenging in the US. I had never seen them in a US grocery store until recently when I saw them at several different Whole Foods. This ingredient is not worth scouring all your local markets to find (they’re certainly not as fresh), but they're a fun touch.
Champagne Vinegar: I like using champagne vinegar from a brand called O Olive Oil and Vinegar, which can be found at Whole Foods.
Dijon Mustard: This is used as an emulsifier, not to add flavor. It helps to prevent the oil and vinegar from separating.

Nutrition