One very cold and snowy evening in Colorado, I was looking through my pantry asking myself the age old question, “What can I make for dinner tonight?” Sometimes, it’s good to be stuck in a snowstorm. It’s like your very own episode of Chopped. I ended up recruiting some stray items from the fridge, and it turned into this delicious oil free, vegan Mandarin orange salad recipe with avocado, scallion, parsley, distilled white vinegar and more.
While I made this Mandarin orange salad for the first time in the dead of winter, it really works well in any season. Avocado and oranges belong together. The acidic sweetness of the mandarin oranges plays off the creamy avocado and is complimented by the savory scallion. The celery and walnuts bring a nice contrasting texture. Basically, every crunchy bite is full of refreshing flavor.
I recommend soaking the celery in some ice water for, at least, 15 minutes before chopping it. I like my celery super crisp, and this does the trick every time. You can also use a different sweetener than agave. I like it, because it is already in liquid form and incorporates into dressings very easily. If you want to use regular table sugar, have at it.
Enjoy this delicious vegan Mandarin orange salad! And explore more UVK recipes, like Orange Miso Chickpea Salad with Pita Chips, Vegan Black Bean Soup, Marinated Grilled or Baked Tofu, Roasted Fennel and Beets or Fennel Risotto with Orange Zest.
Mandarin Orange Salad
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp agave (OR the sweetener of your choice)
4 celery stalks, chopped on a bias
10.5 ounce can of mandarin oranges packed in juice, drained
1 scallion, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1. In a large mixing bowl, add the distilled white vinegar, salt and agave. Stir around until the salt dissolves. Then, add the remaining Mandarin orange salad ingredients to the bowl and gently stir together.
2. Taste, and adjust flavor, if needed (more salt? more vinegar? more agave?). Serve.
