Pickled Cherries and Blood Oranges with Mint and Chili Peppers

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Usually, I eat cherries by themselves as snack during the day. I love to sit and eat at the beach, outdoors or before dinner in the kitchen, but I wanted to give the cherries a bit of a makeover and change up their purpose. In this recipe, you will find them pickled with some added heat from the brine and paired beautifully with striking blood oranges with the contrast in both color and heat of the chili pepper. It’s easy, so try it out tonight.

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

Cherry Brine:

About 2 cups pitted cherries

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup water

1 tbsp salt

4 tbsp honey

¼ tsp anise seed

1 bay leaf

5 peppercorns

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

Vinaigrette:

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp of cherry brine

1 tsp red wine vinegar

¼ tsp ground sumac berries

1½ tsp honey

¼ tsp salt

Salad:

About ½ cup pickled cherries

2 blood oranges

1½ tsp thinly sliced jalapeño or green Thai chili pepper

Mint for garnish

Directions

  1. Combine the brine ingredients in a medium saucepan. Add cherries to the brine. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Pour the pickled cherries and brine into a container, preferably made of glass, and let sit at room temperature.

  2. Use a small paring knife to remove the peel and pith from the orange, (following the curve of the orange), rotating the orange with each cut. Cut crosswise into 1/4”-thick rounds. Arrange the oranges on a platter. Top the oranges with the pickled cherries, chili pepper and mint.

  3. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients. Spoon the vinaigrette over the salad as desired. Serve!

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