Spiced Orange Salad

I love salads and usually have at least one a day.  While I add fruit—pears, apples, oranges, peaches, strawberries, or raspberries—to my green salads, I do not like fruit salads very much.  I’ll eat them if someone else makes them, but I don’t make fruit salad. . . except for Spiced Orange Salad.

This salad tastes best when oranges are in season in winter, but it’s a nice, light addition to summer meals. When we have guests for brunch, I usually serve it with quiche.

Ingredients:
3 oranges (Navel, Cara Cara, Blood, etc)
Granulated sugar
Cinnamon
Orange juice (optional)

You can use any type of orange in this recipe, but my favorites are the Navel oranges.  I don’t include measurements for the sugar and cinnamon because I make this according to our taste and don’t measure anything.  You can use as little as 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon with 1/4 cup of sugar.  I would guess that I use about a teaspoon of cinnamon to about 1/3 cup of sugar. I only use the orange juice when the oranges are not juicy.

Peel the oranges, remove the pith, and slice. Sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on the bottom of a plastic container.  Place a layer of oranges on top of the sugar mixture and sprinkle more of the sugar and cinnamon on it. Repeat until all of the oranges are in the container.  If you have any sugar and cinnamon left, sprinkle it on top.  Place a lid on the container and refrigerate at least two hours. (Overnight is best.) Stir a few times to mix the flavors.

When you’re ready to serve, place the oranges in a serving bowl and pour the remaining liquid over them.