This salad comes to you with inspiration of the season, my visit last year to southern Greece (Laconia) and timely in that it’s also a Lent-friendly dish. Let’s examine the ingredients: a new shipment of Greek extra-virgin olive oil, just shipped from the old country and courtesy of a family friend. The early harvest of olive oil is called “agourelaio” in Greek many a Greek producer will have this shipment on shelves soon.
The other seasonal ingredient in this salad are blood oranges, still abundant in the farmers’ markets all over Greece and by and large cultivated in the Prefecture of Laconia. In Greek, blood oranges are called “σαγκουίνια” or “sah-gween-ya”. They aren’t the cheapest fruit on the stand but they are some of the prettiest, tastiest and with their appearance being brief in the market – they are well worth the annual purchase.
For some layering of flavours, I opted for wine vinegar instead of lemon juice (choose what you like) and the final touch in this salad is a sprinkle of dried Greek oregano. There’s one more week of Lent (Sarakosti) left and then us Greek-Orthodox are into Megali Evdomada (Holy Week) with Greek Easter falling on April 4th (falls on the same day as the Catholic Easter this year).
For this recipe, I’ve thinly sliced the red onions (which I love) and if you find red onions too hot, you can soak them in cold water for 30 minutes and then strain or substitute them with scallions or chives. For the potatoes, I boil them with their skins on – with the purpose of retaining as much of their nutrients. I’ve opted for buttery Yukon Gold potatoes. Look for a yellow-fleshed potato in your part of the world.
Potato Salad With Blood Oranges (Πατατοσαλάτα με σαγκουίνια)
serves 4
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes
1 small red onion
1 -2 blood oranges (depending on their size)
12 Kalamata olives
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. good wine vinegar
coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. dried Greek oregano
- Get a medium-sized pot of water on your stove-top and bring to a boil. Add a good amount of salt and add your potatoes (with skins on). Reduce to a simmer and boil for about 25-30 minutes or until fork tender.
- In the meantime, prepare your other ingredients (slice your onions), make your dressing and segment your blood oranges. Cut the top and bottom off your blood oranges and then trim the skin off them. Now using a sharp paring knife, slice and remove the segments (supremes) by slicing in between the membrane of each orange segment. Reserve your segments in a bowl and squeeze any remaining juice into a bowl.
- Pour the blood orange juice into a jar along with the olive oil and your wine vinegar. Add a pinch of sea salt and some fresh cracked pepper and place the lid on and shake well. Adjust seasoning according to taste. Set Aside.
- As soon as your potatoes are fork tender, strain and place the potatoes in cold water. Peel the skins of the potatoes as soon as you can safely handle them (you want to dress the salad while the potatoes are still warm). Take the back/dull end of a knife and peel off the skins and discard. Slice the potatoes and and place in a bowl. Shake your jar of dressing and pour over the potatoes and sliced onions. Gently toss the with your hands until well coated.
- Arrange your slices of potatoes on a plate or platter and top with the blood orange segments and the Kalamata olives. Sprinkle some dried Greek oregano and serve warm/room temperature.
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© 2007-2010 Peter Minakis
Everything tastes and looks better with blood oranges – and your delectable salad is no exception.
A very interesting combination Peter..not tried blood oranges with potato-although I have with fennel. Looks lovely..I also like the addition of olives…nice, strong flavours!
What a gorgeous salad!!! Now what wine would you pair this with? whoops yeah, I drink wine during nistima.
Do the Greeks combine savoury and fruit in this way? The ones I know are fond of citing this as one of the barbaric eating habits of the British and Americans. At a Christmas lunch in Kalamata cooked by an American friend some sneering little twerp remarked that putting cranberry sauce on the turkey was ‘σαν να βάζεις ΜεÏÎντα στο σουβλάκι’. Of course it is nothing like putting Merenda on a souvlaki, but he scorned to give the cranberry sauce a try. I didn’t think to point out at the time that there are sausages from the Mani that are flavoured with orange, the only fruit/savoury combination I ever came across.
Steve, I’ve encountered those Greeks as well but there are many examples of savory with fruit in Greek cuisine: cod with raisins (Messinia), grouper with prunes (Agio Oros), Pork with fruit (too many examples), turkey stuffing with raisins & currents, watermelon and Feta, Halloumi with Melon. I’m sure there are more but now we too can chuckle.
That salad is very special and so unique! I love the idea of using oranges in that way…
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m ready for salads too! And since I tasted Kalamata olives I know I would love yours :D. As Peter says it’s a strong flavours combo… but the world is for the daring ones… isn’t it?
Have a nice day chico :D
An unusual salad indeed. It must be really refreshing!
What a wonderful way to show off blood oranges! And I am amazed by the beautiful gold colour of your potatoes. We don’t get spuds like them in England!
This salad looks so pretty and scrumptious too. while not quite as gold, a creamy yellow agria potato would work well here. I;m imagining fresh flavours with comforting potatoes. Many thanks, Peter.
i can say with complete honesty that i’ve never eaten potatoes and citrus together. i haven’t even considered the possibility! GORGEOUS dish, peter–this is something i’m eager to taste-test. :)
What a simple and delicious combination of flavors…..I love blood oranges, but wish they were easier to peel.
This is beautiful!
Honey was used in ancient Greek cuisine as well.
Here I am salivating looking at this and I am still in bed! I need to get up!
Oh and you beat me to it: I was going to buy potatoes and make a dish with them, not this, something else! I need to ask you further clarification about kataifi and stuff.
Wow, that beautiful yellow & red make for a stunning presentation
Pout!! You had to use blood oranges :( I still don’t know what they taste like! Looks amazing, though, and when I get to the States I’ll eat all the blood oranges I want ;)
I love a potato salad with a nice, tangy vinaigrette. My kind of recipe :)
NOM NOM NOM Petah…. I just LOVE this! And maybe I see snailsin shells here, hiding, but as long as they hide, I’m game for a platter! Delish!
I don’t know why Yukon Golds are becoming elusive here in the West. They seem to feel that yellow-fleshed potatoes are all created equal and I can attest to the fact that they are not. This is a lovely seasonal salad Peter. I can feel the sunlight of Greece on my face just looking at the photos.
Hi Peter,
I really like this pairing though I would never have thought of it. I bet it was tasty! Strange but I have never seen blood oranges (or Meyer lemons) in any of the markets I go to. You would think FL had the appropriate climate. I wonder what’s up with that?
I was standing in front of a stand of blood oranges at our local fruit and vegetable market last week contemplating buying the pricey fruit and … unfortunately, I didn’t. This salad is making me think I made a big mistake!
One of the prettiest salads I’ve seen in a long time, Peter. Will be trying it soon.
I haven’t seen blood oranges for many years. The potato salad looks like a gret way to enjoy them, I wonder whether it would also work with conventional oranges. Laconia is full of those too!
Now, who would have thought to pair blood oranges with potatoes?! This dish is so different, it just makes you want to dig in and try it! Very nice!
This is a combination I’ve never seen before… I absolutely love blood oranges for their red berry edge, and I can see how they’d be good with potatoes, especially with olive oil to tie them together.
I love the colors and textures of this salad. I do something similar, but now with oranges. I love the way you mix up your flavors. Ooh, and Kalamata olives are so my thing for salads and fish dishes with tomato sauce. Can’t wait for that invite!