citrus story

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Grapefruit, Fennel & Avocado Salad with Baby Kale

The thaw is finally happening. Days are getting longer and temps are trending warmer. I’m trying to spring back to life too. I look forward to gentler days of soft breezes, baby blossoms and new beginnings. Grapefruit is one of my favorite things: a day without it is like a day without sunshine to me. This salad, composed of winter’s tenderest ingredients, is tasty and invigorating: delicate and tangy grapefruit segments pair with fragrant fennelbuttery avocado and soft baby kale. All is tossed with a mouthwatering grapefruit honey vinaigrette. It’s my spring whisperer.

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Pink grapefruit is really the star of this salad. At its perfect peak right now, it’s unbelievably juicy and sweet. The best way to fully appreciate its flavor is to supreme the segments, carefully cutting them away from peel and membrane. A little more work, but certainly worth it. Paired with crunchy fennel and ripe avocado (my latest obsession), these three make a toothsome trio.

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I’m very particular about my grapefruit—I spend a lot of time picking them out at the market. As with all citrus you buy, make sure they’re heavy in the hand when you pick them up. A juicy, ripe grapefruit will have taut skin with tight pores and no soft spots.

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Now let me break down how to supreme that grapefruit. Begin by cutting off the top and bottom ends of the fruit. Use the blade of the knife to curve around the flesh as you remove the outer peel. Continue cutting until you’ve removed all the bitter pith (or peel).

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Hold the fruit in your hand and slip the blade of your knife between the membrane and the flesh to slice out each grapefruit segment.

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Collect the segments in a bowl. Squeeze juice from remaining pulp into a measuring cup to measure out 1/4 cup. Reserve juice for the dressing.

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Fennel is deliciously crunchy and works best in a salad like this if it’s thinly shaved. So it’s time to bring out one of my favorite tools: my Japanese benriner. This inexpensive version of a mandoline is a handy device I use to thinly slice vegetables for all sorts of recipes. You can usually find them in cookware specialty stores. Adjust the thickness of the slices by turning the screws on the back.

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Trim ends of the fennel, reserving feathery tops or fronds. Cut bulb in half lengthwise and cut a wedge in the middle to remove the core. Carefully–carefully!–slide the cut end of one half the fennel over the benriner to thinly slice the bulb; repeat with other fennel half. Don’t slice down too far—watch those fingers! If you don’t have a benriner or mandoline, thinly slice fennel using a sharp chef’s knife.

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Pick the feathery leaves from the fennel top, removing any stems, and reserve. Baby kale is young and tender and adds nice texture to this salad. Wash and dry the leaves and place in a salad bowl.

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Make the grapefruit honey vinaigrette: add honey, sherry vinegar, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to the reserved grapefruit juice and whisk in your best quality extra virgin olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed.

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Toss the kale and fennel with half the dressing and let sit for several minutes–this will allow the kale to soften slightly.

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Pit and slice a ripe avocado.

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Platter the dressed kale and fennel. Top with avocado slices and nestle in the grapefruit segments. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette on top and garnish with fennel fronds. Serve immediately.

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Serves 4:

1 large pink grapefruit
1 medium fennel bulb
4 ounces baby kale leaves
1 ripe avocado

Grapefruit Honey Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

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