SRC: Bewitching Kitchen’s Avocado Orange Salad with Charred Jalapeno Dressing

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired with Sally of Bewitching Kitchen. Sally is Brazilian and a biochemist. She has a beautiful smile, an awesome kitchen, and mad cooking and baking skills! I feel like we have a connection as we both went grey early. 🙂

She has TONS of delicious looking recipes, like this Cauli-Couscous, this simple non-roasted “roasted” broccoli, this ultimate Apple Cake and this granola. She is also a champion bread maker and I am so impressed by all her Brazilian Food!

I ended up choosing her Avocado and Orange Salad with Charred Jalapeno Dressing – definitely a winner! I changed it up a bit – I used a blender for the dressing as I’m too lazy to chop things that small), added orange zest and added toasted almonds instead of seared scallops (shellfish = bad for me). I expected it to be fairly spicy, but it wasn’t – just really tasty!

Bewitching Kitchen’s Avocado and Orange Salad with Charred Jalapeno Dressing

1/2 cup fresh orange juice (I used 1 orange plus the juice left in the membrane from the segmented orange)
Zest of 1 orange
1 jalapeño
1 small shallot
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
salt & freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 avocados, sliced
2 oranges, cut in segments
Mixed greens (I used power greens mix)
Toasted Almonds (Optional – I ran out of time and didn’t toast mine, but I definitely recommend it to take the flavour to the next level)

1. Simmer orange juice in a small saucepan until syrupy and reduced to about 2 Tbsp.  It should take a little over 5 minutes. Let cool.
2. Roast jalapeño directly over a gas flame (I used my BBQ), turning occasionally, until charred on all sides.  Let cool; remove stem, skin, and seeds.
3. Place shallot, vinegar, reduced orange juice orange zest, olive and the jalapeño in a single serving blender container (i.e. magic bullet or similar) and blend until all chunks are gone; season with salt and pepper.
4. Toss avocados, orange segments, salad greens,  and vinaigrette in a bowl.  Serve with toasted almonds if desired.
5. Enjoy!

Sally, it was a joy to read through your blog! I love how your fun personality shines through in all of your posts and your wide array of recipes!

Please check out the rest of Group D’s recipes below: