This cheerful Cara Cara orange Panzanella salad includes tomatoes, red onion, and arugula mixed with a bit of oil and bread. It makes for a bright and juicy salad!
It's the perfect winter Panzanella salad and an excellent side dish or light lunch.
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This beautiful citrus Panzanella salad is a bright and beautiful salad to serve in the winter. It's hearty enough to be a main course, but it also makes a wonderful side salad for roast chicken or pasta.
Panzanella is typically an Italian summer salad with onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and soaked stale bread. It's similar to the Lebanese salad fattoush, in that it has chopped fresh ingredients plus bread.
If you like dipping bread in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then you are going to like the main ingredients in this salad!
Ingredients
- Bread - you can use stale bread for this recipe, or you can toast fresh bread. I recommend using a baguette or another kind of bread with a crispy exterior.
- Oranges - this recipe calls for Cara Cara oranges, but you can use other types of citrus if you'd prefer (see suggestions in the tips section below)
- Tomatoes - I recommend using cherry or grape tomatoes for this recipe. They tend to be better in the cooler months when Cara Cara oranges are in season.
- Shallot - you can use a shallot or a small red onion. If you use onion, I'd recommend soaking it in cold water for 5 minutes before adding it to the salad. Shallots are less sharp than red onions, so you can add them directly to the salad.
- Arugula - I like using baby arugula for this recipe - it's lightly peppery and tastes great in a salad. Any type of baby green or even chopped Romaine can work in this salad.
- Vinaigrette - you'll use extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, kosher salt (or sea salt), and ground black pepper to make the dressing.
Instructions
- Step 1: Slice the ends of the oranges and use a knife to remove the peel and pith in strips. Then, half the orange and slice cut half moon slices.
- Step 2: Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a bowl and whisk briskly.
- Step 3: Toss the arugula, oranges, shallots, and stale (or toasted) bread in a bowl. Top with the dressing and toss again. Allow the salad to sit for 10 to 20 minutes so the bread soaks in the dressing.
- Step 4: If desired, plate the salad in a large low bowl or serving platter and serve.
Tips for Making this Recipe
- Once you add the bread, there's no going back (it gets saturated quickly), so if you are making this salad ahead, I recommend adding the bread no earlier than 30 to 40 minutes before serving. I tend to let this salad sit for about 20 minutes before serving - I think that's the perfect amount of time for the bread to marinate.
- If you can't find cara cara oranges, just swap for another kind of citrus. I made this with blood oranges as well, and it's delicious. Navel oranges, mandarin oranges, clementines, tangelos, and sumo oranges will also work!
fresh & delicious
More Delicious Citrus Recipes
Check out our favorite winter citrus recipes!
Cara Cara Orange Panzanella
Ingredients
- 3 cups stale bread cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 Cara Cara oranges peeled and sliced into half moons
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 3 cups baby arugula
- ¼ cup olive oil
- juice of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper.
Instructions
- Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a bowl and whisk briskly.
- Toss the arugula, oranges, shallots, and stale (or toasted) bread in a bowl. Top with the dressing and toss again. Allow the salad to sit for 10 to 20 minutes so the bread soaks in the dressing.
- Serve in a large low bowl or platter.
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