As you probably can guess, from being a food blog writer, I also read a lot of food blogs. And if there is one common thread that is sewn amongst my fellow bloggers each February and early March it is that spring cannot come soon enough. So I feel that it is safe to speak for a few and say: we are tired of soup, and braised dishes are lovely and rib-sticking, but—bring on the grill and we are all dying for a peach!

But speaking from 30 years of experience, let me say, as the wind whistles round us, we have some time to wait before Spring’s arrival. So why not enjoy it? Dust off that soup pot for just a while longer, braise yet another interesting cut of meat, and discover the wonders of citrus fruit. To me, nothing invokes warm weather fare like a salad. (I know, I know, it must be the Californian in me.) But it can be hard to keep a salad interesting in the middle of the coldest, most blah time of the year. How interesting is a head of green leaf lettuce anyway? Then I saw a recipe from the Minimalist, Mark Bittman, for an orange and olive salad in last week’s New York Times, and it looked divine.

First, you make a coarse paste from pitted, oil-cured olives, and olive oil, pulsing moderately in a food processor. The paste comes together with ease, and if you squint your eyes just so, it even looks like Beluga caviar. Fancy! Peel the oranges with a sharp knife, then slice them cross-wise into geometric disks. Spoon the paste onto the orange slices, and sprinkle some herbaceous fresh thyme. A drizzle of a good, green olive oil, and lunch is served.

There were three types of oranges that I used: traditional Navel, mild Cara Cara, and vibrant Moro Blood oranges. Although having the variation in color was a treat for the eyes, I felt that Cara Cara orange, known for its mild flavor and low acidity level, got lost when combined with the potency of the olive paste. But other than this minor change for next time–and there will be a next time–this salad was utterly delicious. The pungency of the olives toyed with the gentle acidity of the orange, bringing a pleasant melange to the tongue. Having a lunch that is assembled rather than cooked, and wonderfully simple in its construction made me feel like I was having a little bit of summer, right here, in the dead of winter.