This dressing is sharp from the lemon juice and vinegar, sweet from the orange, and mellowed from savoury finely chopped and softened shallot. Delicious with most things – lettuce leaves, vegetables (fennel, brassicas, asparagus, beans, peas), seafood, grain salads etc.
I love the addition of finely chopped softened shallots in this dressing to add just a hint of savoury flavour. These combined with the zest of the citrus fruit adds quite a bit of texture to the dressing too. Reducing the citrus juice and vinegar with the softened onion also concentrates flavour and dilutes the oil less, making it thicker than it would be without this step. Get the recipe for this citrus dressing here.
It goes with so many things, but here are a few recipes that I regularly use it in that are on this site:
Roast brussel sprouts and pickled carrots
Smoked salmon, fennel, orange and avocado salad
Citrus vinaigrette
Equipment
- zester (or fine grater)
- citrus juicer
- small whisk
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil for cooking
- 1 banana shallot
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 1 orange, zest and juice
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp good quality olive oil
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan and sweat the finely chopped shallot for 8 minutes or so until soft and transulcent but not browning.
- Add the zest and juice of the citrus fruit and the vinegar to the shallots. Bring to a simmer and reduce by half.
- Once reduced, remove from the heat and cool. Then whisk in 4 tbsp of good quality olive oil.
