Kumquat Vinaigrette

This vinaigrette uses one of my all-time favorite fruits, the kumquat. Kumquats are sort of inside-out citrus fruits: the skins are very sweet and the interior flesh is very tart. You eat the whole thing–seeds and all. However, since the skins (while very sweet) also have a little of that citrus peel bitterness to them, I prefer to remove the seeds, as they add more bitterness than I like. But–it is perfectly acceptable to leave the seeds, which is a time-saver because there are a lot of them! For this vinaigrette, I went ahead and removed the seeds. If you leave them in, taste-test before serving to see if you want to add a little more honey to offset any bitter notes.

This vinaigrette makes a great dressing for a salad of sturdy winter greens like spinach and purple cabbage.

Print Recipe

Kumquat Vinaigrette

Author: keriawilliams

Ingredients

Servings

• ~¹⁄₂ cup kumquats (seeded and roughly chopped in a food processor)
• ³⁄₄ cup very good quality olive oil (Consider using pecan oil, which adds a nice, nutty quality.)
• ¹⁄₄ cup cider vinegar (or other relatively mild vinegar--I used an apricot and peace vinegar for mine, which gave a nice, tropical vibe to the mixture)
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• ¹⁄₈ tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp shallot (finely diced)
• 1 tsp honey

Instructions

1. Start by halving your kumquats and removing the seeds (if desired). Place them in a small food processor and pulse the fruits until they are minced, but not pureed--you want there to still be recognizable, but small, bits of fruit.

   

1. Pour the minced kumquats into a bowl, or shaker; add the rest of the ingredients and combine well. Use as a salad dressing over sturdy winter greens such as spinach and purple cabbage.

   

Note

For a fun twist on this vinaigrette, add a little grated ginger to the mix!