I love pairing orange and carrots, and this a bright and colourful salad that stands out from the other salads on the table. With crunchy almonds and peppery rocket, all dressed in a mustard dressing made with the juice from the orange; it is full of colour, textures, and so fresh.
As you will see from the photo above, I have used yellow and purple heirloom carrots together with some orange Dutch baby for their contrasting colours, but you can just use orange carrots. It will taste the same, and still look very pretty!
I often add feta to salads, (as you may have seen from my beetroot and feta salad ). It adds a little salty creaminess and is also an ingredient which keeps very well if you have any leftovers. This salad, despite being best eaten on the day it is made is still very tasty the following day. Any leftovers can be place in an airtight container in the fridge and eaten for lunch the following day.
The peppery rocket/arugula pairs so well with the sweet orange, but if you don’t have any then baby spinach is a great alternative.
Blood oranges have a beautiful red flesh and slight raspberry flavour, and having only quite recently discovered them, the blood orange is one of my new favourite fruits. When buying blood oranges choose ones with a firm skin that feel heavy and smell fragrant. If blood oranges aren’t in season, then use a navel orange or ruby grapefruit. When I double the recipe to feed a larger crowd I like to use 1 blood orange and 1 navel orange. The contrasting colours are very striking!
What is the season for blood oranges?
Blood orange season in the UK is December to May. In Australia it is August to October.
What can I substitute for blood oranges?
You can use a navel orange or ruby red grapefruit in place of the blood orange.
Make it Your Orange Carrot Salad:
No baby carrots: use 2 larger carrots
Nut free:Â replace the almonds with pumpkin seeds
Dairy free/vegan:Â leave out the feta, and add a pinch of salt to the salad dressing
Serving to Toddler:Â leave out the roughly chopped almonds as they can pose a choking risk. I like to serve them in a bowl on the side and older family members can sprinkle some over their serving of salad.
If you are looking for more salad ideas why not have a look at my gluten free Watermelon Salad with Mozzarella, light and fresh Smoked Salmon Caesar Salad, or vegan Puttanesca Pasta Salad
Orange & Carrot Salad with Feta
Ingredients
- 4 baby carrots
- 1 small blood orange cut into segments/slices, any juice saved for dressing
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp wholegrain mustard
- Large handful of rocket
- 100 g feta cheese
- 35 g almonds roughly chopped
- Couple of fronds of fresh dill
- Fresh black pepper
Instructions
- Cut away the peel of the orange with a knife, then cut the fruit into segments or slices. Take care to save any juice.
- Whisk the olive oil with the mustard and any orange juice then season to taste (if using feta no need to add salt), and set to one side.
- Slice the baby carrots lengthwise with a vegetable peeler. Lay them on a plate with the rocket and orange slices/segments. Sprinkle over the feta, almonds and dill then drizzle over the dressing and serve.
- Eat straight away.
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Sally says
This is such a vibrant salad! I love the combination of citrus with the peppery rocket as well. This would be a perfect side for a BBQ.
Robyn says
Thanks Sally! It is such a great side dish!
Gavin says
YUMMMMM! Fresh, salty, acidic & crunchy. This salad ticks all the boxes with limited easy to get ingredients. This could well become a family fav!
Robyn says
Thanks Gavin, yes no complicated ingredients here! Hope your family enjoy it.
Katerina says
I have never paired orange and carrot before but I love feta salads and now I want to try this! Thanks so much for sharing. Wishing you a very happy New Year!
Robyn says
Thank you Katerina. Orange and carrot does sound like a surprising combination but it really works! Happy New Year to you too!