January is National Citrus Month and the abundance and variety of oranges, grapefruits and citrus in the grocery stores always excites us. We love browsing the produce section in the market, looking for new ingredients to try. Recent discoveries include zebra lemons, kumquats and Japanese grapefruit. Trying and learning about new ingredients allows us to get adventurous in the kitchen and maybe show off a little at our next dinner party.

Citrus lends itself beautifully to an assortment of recipes. A simple search on the Internet of citrus recipes offers up a large variety of lemon bars, cakes, candied peels, cookies, preserves, simple syrups for cocktails and mocktails, even vinaigrette’s. So many ways to use this illustrious fruit.

We’ve created a delicate and flavourful citrus salad to wash all your winter blues away. Serve it at brunch, with your favourite cooked chicken recipe or as a dish for one.

Check out Gwendolyn Richard’s Chewy Lemon Cookies recipe to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Winter Citrus Salad

We've combined Japaneses grapefruit, regular grapefruit, a variety of oranges, buttery avocado, strawberries, pomegranate seeds, fresh basil and a dressing made using maple syrup, extra virgin olive oil and juices from the fruit. Serve this salad as a main for a lighter meal, or as a side.
Servings 6

Ingredients

Salad

  • 3 grapefruit
  • 4 oranges, cara cara, blood orange, satsuma, navel
  • 1/2 avocado, peeled and sliced
  • 3 strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds
  • 2 tbsp pistachios, shelled and roughly chopped
  • 2-3 basil leaves, torn or chopped
  • maldon salt

Dressing

  • leftover juice from grapefruit and oranges
  • 1-2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

  • Carefully peel and segment the grapefruit and the oranges. Add all segments to a serving dish and set aside. Squeeze the juice from what is left of the oranges and grapefruits into a dish before disgarding what's left.
  • Gently arrange the strawberries, avocado, pomegranate seeds and basil on top of your citrus.

Dressing

  • Whisk together juice, olive oil and maple syrup. Drizzle on top of salad.
  • Sprinkle on pistachios and a little salt. Serve immediately.