Cantaloupe, Red Onion and Walnut Salad

This delicious salad comes from Giada de Laurentiis' cookbook, Giada's Kitchen. I loved the combination of the fresh citursy dressing, crunchy walnuts and sweet melon. I made it for lunch last week and it was a nice change of pace from my regular lettuce,tomato, cucumber with vinaigrette salad.

As for the rest of the cookbook, I really wanted to love it. Flipping through it, there are so many wonderful looking recipes. Plus, many are lighter in fat than her regular fare which I appreciated. However, I had really mixed results with two other recipes I tried (orzo stuffed peppers & pasta with mini meatballs). They weren't bad just kind of bland. I'm not giving up on this cookbook though. The salad was great and I'm sure there are other gems in there.

Ingredients:
Orange Vinaigrette
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp raspberry vinegar
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Salad
1 (3lb) cantaloupe, cut into cubes
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 cups arugula (I used herb mix salad)
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

To make the vinaigrette, combine the orange juice, lemon juice and raspberry vinegar in a small bowl. Slowly add the oil and whisk till smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To make the salad, combine the rest of the ingredients and pour vinaigrette on top. Gently toss to combine.