Orange and Arugla Salad w/Golden Raisins and Walnuts

This is a great, refreshing salad to cleanse the pallet.  I wouldn't necessary deem this a "meal" salad, where it's so good you could eat it by itself for a meal, but it's super tasty and a great accompaniment to a heavy winter meal.  It has sweet, sour, bitter, and crunchy notes, perfectly suited to cut through any savory main course.

ingredients:
serves 4-6 people
1.  4 navel oranges
2.  2-8 tsp sugar
3.  Salt and pepper
4.  1 tsp unsalted butter
5.  1/2 cup walnuts, chopped coarse
6.  2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
7.  1 small shallot, minced
8.  1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
9.  4 ounces (4 cups) arugula
10.  1/2 cup golden raisins - be liberal with the raisins, as their sweetness is important in cutting through the bitter, sourness of the rest of the salad 

recipe:
1.  Cut off a small portion of the top and bottom of the oranges to create a flat surface on both sides.  Using a knife and following the counter of the orange, cut away the peel and pith from the oranges.
2.  Cut each orange in half lengthwise.  Try to remove any white, inner pith with your hands then cut the oranges, crosswise, into 1/4" slices.
3.  Transfer orange slices to a bowl then sprinkle with 1/4 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of sugar.  Mix then taste a small piece of orange.  You want oranges to be noticeably sweet, with just a hint of sourness to it.  Keep adding sugar, mixing, then tasting until the oranges are obviously sweet with a hint of sourness.
4.  Transfer oranges to a colander and place it over the same bowl you just used for 15 minutes.
5.  Melt 1 tsp unsalted butter in a pan over medium heat and add walnuts and 1/4 tsp salt.  Toast, stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes until browned and fragrent.
6.  Transfer walnuts to paper towel lined plate to cool.
7.  After 15 minutes, drain the oranges from the colander and transfer them to a serving plate.  You should have around 1-2 TBL of reserved juices.  If there's more than 2 TBL of juice, discard the rest.
8.  Drizzle the oranges with just enough extra virgin olive so that each piece gets a slight coating.
9.  To the bowl with the reserved juices, add 1 small minced shallot and 1 tsp dijon mustard and mix until combined.
10.  To the bowl add the arugula, 1/4 cup of golden raisins, and 1/4 cup of the walnuts.  Toss well and coat the arugula with the dressing.
11.  Taste the arugula and very lightly season with salt and pepper if needed.
12.  Arrange the arugula on top of the oranges, making sure to leave a 1" border around the edges.
13.  Sprinkle on the remaining 1/4 cup of raisins and 1/4 cup of walnuts.  Serve onto smaller plates with 2 large spoons, making sure to get a good mix of all the ingredients in the salad.