Dinner Tonight: Orange and Red Onion Salad Recipe

By
Nick Kindelsperger
Nick Kindelsperger is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Nick Kindelsperger is a food critic at the Chicago Tribune.  His food writing appears in The Washington Post, Newsweek, Epicurious, Baltimore Sun, Serious Eats, Grub Street, New York Magazine, and Tasting Table, among others.
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Updated April 09, 2025

With the temperatures spilling over the 90 degree threshold, and the fiancee threatening violence if I turn on the oven in our apartment, I was on a search for fresh food that didn’t require any heat at all to prepare. I found this recipe in Lidia’s Italy, and it sounded perfect. The only ingredient I couldn’t find were blood oranges, but Lidia said smaller oranges would work fine and for the most part, they did. The flavors were all there. The sweetness of the orange was cut by the bite of the thin red onion, and the olive oil gave the dish a savory edge.

Still I was a little confused by the center of each round, which contained various amounts of inedible white parts. Perhaps I was supposed to remove those too. They weren’t much of a problem in the middle of the orange, but towards the top, those white parts became inedible. Either way, as long as you don’t mind pulling things out of your teeth, you couldn't ask for a nicer summertime salad.

Recipe Details

Dinner Tonight: Orange and Red Onion Salad Recipe

Prep 10 mins
Total 10 mins
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 4 oranges (preferably blood orange, but regular ones are fine)

  • 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • Black pepper

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

  1. Remove the peel of the oranges, along with as much of the pith as possible. Thinly slice the oranges into rounds, about 1/3 of inch thick. Place them on a plate.

  2. Place the thinly sliced red onion on top.

  3. Sprinkle the salt on top, dress with olive oil, and crack some pepper to taste.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
1071Calories
17gFat
242gCarbs
16gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories1071
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 17g22%
Saturated Fat 2g12%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 552mg24%
Total Carbohydrate 242g88%
Dietary Fiber 39g138%
Total Sugars 162g
Protein 16g
Vitamin C 952mg4,761%
Calcium 604mg46%
Iron 4mg22%
Potassium 3390mg72%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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