Citrus Salad with a Sweet-Mint Dressing

I SIMPLY LOVE THIS VIBRANT CITRUS SALAD!  If you enjoy grapefruit and oranges as much as I do, you will love it too.  The combination of grapefruit, orange, cucumber and avocado is unexpectedly good.  Don’t be afraid!  You will love the the different flavors and textures in this dish. For the dressing, I chose a simple homemade creation with sweet local honey, a lot of fresh mint, some zest for tang, topped with almonds for crunch.  The process of segmenting and peeling the citrus fruit is a bit tedious, but it's well worth the effort to make this gorgeous, refreshing and satiating salad to have as a main dish on hot sunny days or as a side salad for any summer barbecue. 



The following recipe serves two.  Please feel free to scale up the portion size as needed.



1 large Grapefruit

1 Orange

1/3 English Cucumber

1 Avocado

fresh Mint;  about 15 leaves

1 Tbsp. Honey (or Vegan alternative)

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil (Blood-Orange Olive Oil)

Salt and Pepper;  to taste

1 Tbsp. Almonds;  slivered

1 Grapefruit + Orange-zest;  to taste

P R E P A R A T I O N S

Wash and clean all fresh produce.

Starting with the grapefruit and orange:  Remove the peel and the white pith, and take the fruit segments from between the membranes.  

Place into a bowl while preparing the rest of the salad.  

Refrigerate if you like.

Julienne the cucumber into 2cm long rectangles; no need to remove the peel.

Mince the fresh mint leaves and then whisk the oil and honey together with the mint to create the dressing.  Drain the juice from the citrus slices and add it into the dressing.  Also, add a small amount of grapefruit and orange zest.

Next, gently toss the salad ingredients together, reserving the avocado pieces until right before serving the salad.

Just before plating, gently mix the avocado pieces into the salad to prevent it from melting into the rest of the dish.  Plate onto individual plates or serve family style.

Drizzle the mint dressing over the plated dish.  Top with additional mint and almond slivers.

       Nina