{ Can you tell the sun has been shining again? }

Remember those Sunshine Salads that made the hockey potluck dinner rounds..

full of marshmallows, sour cream, mandarin oranges and coconut?

I thought it was time that salad got an updated look..

With a nod to citrus with sun shaped slices of Cara Cara oranges { pink and sweet }, light green creamy avocado to replace the sour cream, star sliced apples { I have a story about that for you one day }, pomegranate seeds, walnuts instead of coconut and crisp baby kale, this salad is full of good stuff

to help you stay on track with your New Year’s Resolutions!

This one just might win over a few grown up hockey players!

♥

We’ve had oodles of sunshine lately,
it’s been so much easier to take photos and not have to touch up the exposure!

Nothing replicates sunlight and nothing feels better on an upturned face

than rays of bright, warm sun!

♥

Sunshine Salad

 

Print

Ingredients

Dressing

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
• Zest of 1/2 orange
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Salad

• 2 - 3 cara cara oranges (or any kind if not available)
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1 apple, sliced horizontally
• 1 small bunch baby kale, washed and dried
• 1/2 pomegranate's seeds, rinse
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Optional

• sprinkling of coconut
• grated carrot
• pineapple chunks
• yellow peppers
• celery

Instructions

1. Mix all dressing ingredients together and whisk to blend. Refrigerate until using.
2. In a salad bowl, toss together all ingredients, except avocado and apple slices) and refrigerate until using. Just before serving, add the avocado and apple slices and toss with dressing to serve.

Notes

I've made this again a few days later. Kale keeps so nicely that this salad can be eaten the next day.

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Photography Tip

Remember my series on Photography, when we discussed Shutter Speed, Aperture, and Film Speed?

One of the most important elements of a great photograph is light, I like to use indirect light when I can.

In darker rooms, the camera can be set on a tripod and have the shutter speed slowed down and the aperture wide open..
but nothing compares to a naturally lit photograph. I’ve played around with artificial lights, but nothing compares to natural, indirect sunlight. Most of the time my subject is in front of me, light to my left (filtered through a thin linen curtain), reflected by a silver reflector and my camera still on a tripod. On darker winter days, I sometimes resort to taking photographs outside.

I often use a simple white foam board beneath and behind my subject.

More often than not, lately, I’ve loved the look of a photo taken by standing behind the plate with the window directly in front of me and behind the dish. Some photographers would say that the light behind creates a “blown out” photograph, but I actually like that effect. I do know that photographs taken like this do not get accepted by any of the food websites like Foodgawker.. but that is a subject for another day.

This would be considered “high key” photography.You might remember these Vintage Chippy Teacup Candle photos, these would be considered “low key”..

where the subject is lit, but everything around it is dark… a completely different “mood”. To get this shot, I just used three pieces of black foam board, under, behind and one on the left to block out the amount of sunlight coming through.

Most often direct harsh sunlight is not favorable, because of the sharp shadows created, but I think they can be useful sometimes. I’ll have to play around with that one day!

♥

Have an awesome day!!