When we were growing up, our health-conscious mom gave us some form of citrus fruit nearly every day, especially in the winter, since that’s when citrus is in season and when she thought we could use an additional boost of vitamin C to keep the cold and flu away. Often she’d serve half a grapefruit at breakfast and we’d scoop out each section of the inside with a spoon. If she didn’t serve us citrus fruit at lunch or breakfast, our mom would surely add it to our nightly appetizer salad. 🙂 As much as we appreciated all the healthy food she fed us as kids, now as registered dietitians we truly appreciate it! We’re always whipping up dishes inspired by our Mom, and this Citrus and Avocado Salad is no exception. Rock on Mom! 🙂
Looking for more healthy salad recipes? Here are a few to try!
Crunchy Zesty Cucumber Cantaloup
Veggie Bean Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
Spinach Berry Balsamic Glazed Chicken Salad with Raspberry Chia Vinaigrette
Whether the middle of summer or the thick of winter, what better than a bright citrus filled salad to brighten your day, while flooding your body with immune boosting vitamin C? The sweet citrus fruit paired with the creamy avocado adds the perfect balance of sweet flavor with the creamy texture from the avocado, whose good-for-you-fat acts as a nutrient booster and enhances the absorption of fat soluble vitamins like carotenoids in citrus fruit. Pair this salad with grilled chicken or fish for a delish lunch or dinner! One of the best parts about this salad? Use whatever citrus fruit you have in the house—or choose your favorite—or combine them all!
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Salad
3 citrus fruit*
1/2 avocado
2 cups of lettuce, chopped**
*use your favorite; try something new—any sweet citrus fruit will work. We used blood orange, tangelo, clementines (or mandarins).
**we used a mix of spring greens and romaine this time, but we think butter lettuce would be a nice addition.
Dressing
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice*
1 1/2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove, finely minced or grated
a pinch of both salt & pepper
*we used fresh squeezed navel orange juice (we originally bought every variety of citrus we could find 😉 so we figured we’d use fresh squeezed, bottled 100% orange juice works as well)
Directions
- First, prepare the dressing to give your ingredients time to mingle before pouring over the salad. Start by mixing all of the dressing ingredients together in a small jar or dressing container and shake well. Set aside.
- Slice citrus and remove the peels and as much of the pith as possible. We sliced from the top down into thin slices. Once the peel is removed, gently pull the slices apart to make them bite size.
- Dice the avocado.
- Assemble the salad, and then divide into 4 equal portions.
- Drizzle a tablespoon of dressing over one serving and enjoy!
Serve with a side of your favorite fish, chicken or bean dish for a delish lunch or dinner!
89 Calories, 4g carbs, 1 g fat, 2g protein, 3 mg sodium, 3 g fiber
- 3 sections of citrus fruit*
- ½ avocado
- 2 cups of lettuce, chopped**
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice***
- 1½ TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large garlic clove, finely minced or grated
- a pinch of both salt & pepper
- First, prepare the dressing to give your ingredients time to mingle before pouring over the salad. Start by mixing all of the dressing ingredients together in a small jar or dressing container and shake well. Set aside.
- Slice citrus and remove the peels and as much of the pith as possible. We sliced from the top down into thin slices. Once the peel is removed, gently pull the slices apart to make them bite size.
- Dice the avocado.
- Assemble the salad, and then divide into 4 equal portions.
- Drizzle a tablespoon of dressing over one serving and enjoy!
**we used a mix of spring greens and romaine this time, but we think butter lettuce would be a nice addition.
***we used fresh squeezed navel orange juice (we originally bought every variety of citrus we could find 😉 so we figured we’d use fresh squeezed, bottled 100% orange juice works as well)
