Orange Salad

We like the seasonal switchover into fall for a lot of reasons—the crunchy fallen leaves, the freshly picked apples and freshly pressed cider, the Halloween costumes and November sunsets and Thanksgiving's pumpkin pies—but there's one thing about fall that makes us sad: the fruit.

Once summer's berries and stone fruits are behind us, we know we're in for months and months of bananas. Bananas on our granola, bananas in our yogurt, bananas sprawled on our kitchen table in various stages of under- and overripeness.

Every fall we forget that the season also brings citrus: heavy, juicy grapefruits; sweet clementines; and oranges. This recipe, from our last unpacked cookbook, Cooking in the Litchfield Hills (thanks for the long loan, Teresa; we'll return it soon!), makes delicious use of winter fruit.

Orange Salad Italia

8 large oranges

5 garlic cloves

1/2 cup olive oil

fresh oregano, chopped

salt and pepper

Peel the oranges, break them into sections, remove the pitch, and cut the sections in half. Peel the garlic, and chop it very fine. Place the oranges in a bowl; add the garlic, olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper; toss.

Six servings.