Orange and Radish Salad With Pistachios

By Martha Rose Shulman

Total Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 4(323)
Notes: Read community notes

Before I put this salad together, I could imagine how it would feel and taste in my mouth: the juicy, sweet oranges playing against the crisp, pungent radishes. The combination was inspired by an orange, radish and carrot salad in Sally Butcher’s charming book “Salmagundi: A Celebration of Salads From Around the World.”

The salad is a showcase for citrus, which is in season in California. Navels are particularly good right now, both the regular variety and the darker pink-fleshed Cara Cara oranges that taste like a cross between an orange and a pink grapefruit. I fell in love with blood oranges when I lived in Paris years ago, and although the Moro variety that we get in the United States doesn’t have quite as intense a red-berry flavor as the Mediterranean fruit, its color is hard to resist.

Here I use a combination of blood oranges and navels, and a beautiful mix of red and purple radishes and daikon. Dress this bright mixture with roasted pistachio oil, which has a mild nutty flavor that marries beautifully with the citrus.

Put the prepared oranges and radishes in separate bowls and use a slotted spoon to remove the orange slices from the juices. Just before serving, arrange the oranges and radishes on a platter or on plates, spoon on the dressing and juices, and sprinkle with pistachios. You can also layer the elements, undressed, and pour on the liquids right before serving.

For a juicier version, skip the slotted spoon and toss all of the ingredients together for a quenching salad that is best served in bowls.

Featured in: Salads Don’t Have to Be Green

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

2blood oranges (about ½ pound)
2medium navel oranges (about 1 pound)
Fleur de sel or coarse sea salt to taste
1tablespoon chopped fresh mint, plus more for garnish
6ounces radishes (about 1 cup sliced)
4ounces daikon radish (about ⅓ daikon)
2tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1teaspoon agave nectar
⅛teaspoon ground cinnamon, or more to taste
Pinch cayenne
2tablespoons roasted pistachio oil
¼cup lightly toasted unsalted pistachios (about 1 ounce)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Remove orange peels: Cut off both ends of the oranges. Stand them up on the cut side and remove the rest of the peel and pith by cutting away strips; move your knife down the sides of the orange from top to bottom. Use a cutting board with a canal for catching juices, and cut oranges, crosswise, into rounds. Place in a bowl and tip in juices. Add fleur de sel and chopped mint, and toss together.
Step 2
Slice radishes and daikon as thin as you can. (Use a mandolin or a Japanese slicer if you have one.) Place in separate bowl and sprinkle with fleur de sel.
Step 3
Whisk together lemon juice, agave, cinnamon, cayenne and pistachio oil. Divide evenly among the two bowls with oranges and radishes, and toss.
Step 4
Use a slotted spoon to lift oranges from juices that accumulate in bowl and arrange, with radishes, on a platter or plates. Just before serving, spoon on the juices and dressing left behind in bowl, and top with pistachios and mint.

Tip

Note: Layer the ingredients on a platter and pour over dressing before serving. For a juicier salad, toss oranges and radishes together rather than keeping them in separate bowls and skip the slotted spoon. Serve in bowls and sprinkle pistachios on top.

Ratings

4 out of 5

323 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Jeffrey McLaughlin6 years ago

Made this for guests for on a hot Sunday on the terrace under an umbrella. No blood oranges to be found, I used all navel oranges. I had a monumental amount of white, icicle radishes and some French breakfast radishes. I used evo, as their was no pistachio oil to be found. Mixed the whole thing in one bowl, scattered some pistachios on top and the dish was well received and eaten in bowls with spoon as it was juicy as could be. Variation on this could last all summer.

Steve Abbott6 years ago

Pistachio oil can be hard to find but can be made with relative ease: www.foodandwine.com/recipes/toasted-pistachio-oil.
It can be a nice accompaniment to a variety of salads and other recipes.

Mary6 years ago

I've come to appreciate the complexity of flavors with the simplest combinations of ingredients in Ms. Schulman's recipes, as well as their clarity. This is a good example. The pistachios, mint, and citrus are really, really nice together. Next time I'll slice the radishes not quite so thin so they stay crisp.

Philippe Barré6 years ago

Not enough radishes in the garden; replaced with kohlrabi. No pistachios in the kitchen; used pine nuts. Added a few sliced red onions. Result quite pleasant!

Karolyn Schalk6 years ago

Nice salad to make in Spring and early Autumn when the farmer's markets have the full range of radish varieties in their colorful glory. Nice also with toasted almonds/roasted almond oil.

Leslie6 years ago

This was lovely. I used watermelon radishes and with the oranges and mint, the effect was quite festive. Kids all liked it. Perfect for potlucks.

Jenni4 weeks ago

The winningest radish recipe I know! Yesterday my 7 year old had thirds, then objected loudly when I tried to clean the bowl. Simplify if you never have blood oranges, daikon, or pistachio oil. Leave out the first two and sub EVOO for an excellent and faster alternative, all in one bowl.

dylan olivia4 months ago

This was a great recipe! I didn’t bother separating the oranges and the radishes as I made the dressing, I just tossed it together in a bowl. Normal oranges and two bunches of radishes will do - I just chopped the radishes instead of thinly slicing them and it was great. Honey instead of agave was amazing. Skip the pistachio oil but using organic ingredients is a MUST! Will make this again for some friends, my friend Amy loved it.

Karen1 year ago

Made exactly as written for Thanksgiving. I bought pistachio oil on Amazon but I think olive oil would be fine. This was stunning, refreshing and will be a permanent addition to our holiday menu.

Paul, Idaho1 year ago

used pine nuts. Added a few sliced red onions

HOC2 years ago

I didn't have pistachio oil so substituted walnut. I plated this salad on a bed of arugula, oak leaf and butter lettuces, and radicchio. We loved it and couldn't imagine it without the greens!

Jefe2 years ago

Greenhouse Radishes from Blue Moon Acres, a couple of mandarins and some added micro greens. It may be winter outside but in my kitchen it’s spring!

Lacy2 years ago

I loved this salad. Couldn't find pistachio oil, so I subbed a combo of sesame & rice bran oil in a 1:3 ratio (1 tsp sesame, 3 tsp rice bran) which gave it a nice mild nutty flavor. I also only made enough for two servings - didn't need a big salad - and added 2 cups of kale which needed to be used up. Delicious!

patti3 years ago

Could this be made with mandarins which might cut down on the juicyness? More work to peel but if sections were cut in half would still be bite sized.

Frank3 years ago

I used Cara Cara and blood oranges; loved the former but wasn't too thrilled with the latter. I used watermelon radish because it'a a favorite. I pretty much stuck to the dressing recipe. Unfortunately, although I was going to use honey instead of the nectar, I forgot to put it in. Oh, well, next time. It is delicious and quite refreshing.

Clara3 years ago

Such a joyful winter salad. Followed the recipe almost-exactly, except for subbing honey for agave and throwing in a handful of chopped parsley that was wilting at the back of the fridge.

diego3 years ago

I was lacking ingredients- used Cherry-belle radishes, navel oranges, no mint, sub pistachio oil for roasted walnut oil. The double-citrus flavor from the orange and lemon was really refreshing. I made the radishes paper thin, but I recommend you go thicker on the mandolin. I also threw in sliced carrots, and topped the dish with crushed walnuts. Turned out good for my first time. Would like to try this again with a mix of radishes and oranges.

absolutely delicious3 years ago

beautiful and so refreshing for a winter crunch and surge of clean goodness

Melodie4 years ago

Added feta cheese and used EVOO instead of pistachio oil...delicious

AJ4 years ago

Would try for watermelon radishes if possible. Also would add lemon or lime or grapefruit zest in the dressing. Also could add grapefruit with oranges. I’d go heavy on the mint. Used suggestion of jicama in lieu of Daikon. Olive oil was fine substitute for nut oil.

Nancy4 years ago

I made this using Valencia oranges off my tree and daikon radishes from the Farmer's market. (no other types of orange or radish). I also didn't have pistachio oil and used hazelnut oil. The salad was fantastic!

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