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Citrus Spring Salad
Susan Phillips
Read Bio »Citrus Spring Salad
Have you ever tasted sunshine? Well… me neither, but I am quite positive that it would taste just like this!
Every tasty ingredient in this refreshing salad compliments each other like I’ve never experienced before. I don’t think I would add or omit any component since each flavor and texture is so unique and strikes a perfect balance to this dish.
And the colors! Vivid, complimentary and gorgeous!
Prep and assembly is a snap and you might even have everything you need right in your fridge! Ok, well, maybe not the fennel bulb (also called sweet anise). In fact, you might get a little apprehensive to include fennel if you’ve never used it before but, believe me… you will be pleasantly surprised. Recently, fennel has become quite the trendy veg so you may have already been served fennel in a restaurant without even knowing it!
I have come to love fennel and am always looking for ways to include it in my kitchen. I even want to start growing it in my garden!
The largest element of this refreshing salad is an array of juicy citrus. I used Cara Cara, Navel, and Minneolas. They were all so sweet and juicy! I couldn’t decide which variety was my fave, so I just used them all.
The other stars of the dish are avocado, red onion and fresh mint…
Oooooh yah.
It’s hard not to stare, isn’t it?
I served this salad with a basic poppyseed vinaigrette that I whipped up (recipe included below) but you can always use a quality store-bought poppyseed dressing to make things extra simple.
I won’t torture you anymore…
Here’s the recipe!
- 2 navel oranges
- 2 cara cara oranges
- 4 minneolas tangelos
- 1 fennel bulb, sliced thin
- 1/2 red onion, sliced thin
- 1 avocado, sliced into bite sized chunks
- 2 sprigs of fresh mint, leaves roughly chopped
- FOR DRESSING
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 shallot, chopped fine
- 1 T. poppyseed
- 1 t. salt
- Combine all dressing ingredients and whisk to blend. Refrigerate
- Remove all the rinds from the citrus and cut into bite size pieces (allow to partially drain in a colander if needed)
- Layer half of the fennel, avocado and red onion on a platter or shallow bowl
- Add half of the citrus on top
- Layer the other half of the fennel, avocado and red onion
- Top with the remainder of the citrus
- Add chopped mint and a few fennel top greens to garnish