fennel and citrus salad

The perfect crunchy winter salad is here. Acidic and bright, this salad comes together in minutes. You can bulk it up by tossing with arugula or bitter greens like radicchio. It goes nicely with fish or chicken. Enjoy and happy New Year!

Ingredients:

1 grapefruit

1 orange (navel, blood, or cara cara—any kind will do)

1 medium fennel bulb, leaves and stems removed

1 avocado

1 lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 small shallot, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Step 1:

Prepare your citrus by removing the skins and cutting into segments or supremes. The easiest way to do this is to cut the top and bottom off so that you have a flat surface to work with. Place on the cutting board cut-side down and slice the peels and pith off by going from top to bottom, following the shape of the fruit. With the peels removed, you should be able to see the white lines that divides each segment of the citrus. Cut along these lines to make supremes. Add citrus to a medium bowl. Squeeze the remaining juice into a separate container for the vinaigrette.

Step 2:

Remove the stems and fronds from a medium fennel bulb. Trim the top of the bulb and, using a mandolin or your knife, cut the fennel into thin slices. Place into the same bowl as the citrus and add in diced avocado.

Step 3:

For the dressing, add the lemon juice, dijon, olive oil, 1 tablespoon of the citrus juice, thinly sliced shallot, salt, and pepper to a jar with a lid. Shake the jar vigorously to emulsify the dressing. Of course, you can make the dressing without a jar by whisking the ingredients together in a small bowl. However, for such a small amount of dressing the jar works well to fully emulsify the ingredients and soften the shallots.

Step 4:

Drizzle the dressing over the citrus and fennel. Toss to coat well. Finish with cracked black pepper.