Recipe: Avocado, Pink Grapefruit and Taggiasca Olive Salad

• By
• Michael Bonacini

This rich, tangy salad is a good way to start your new year eating off right

We’re well past the days of heavy holiday food, so take a page from your resolution list and whip up this bright, healthy salad with a citrusy tang

Avocados and olives lend a satisfying richness, while pink grapefruit and lemon bring the zing.

Healthy and delicious – now you’re really ready for the new year!  

Ingredients

Dressing:

• ¼ cup (50 ml) olive oil
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) pink grapefruit juice
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) tarragon mustard
• Salt and pepper

Salad:

• 3 pink grapefruits
• 1 avocado
• Lemon juice
• 2 heads bibb lettuce, washed
• ¼ cup (50 ml) taggiasca olives
• 1 handful purple basil (or regular basil), for garnish
• ¼ cup (50 ml) avocado oil
• Salt and pepper
• Bacon bits (optional)

Instructions

1. Whisk together olive oil, grapefruit juice and mustard to make dressing.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Peel and segment grapefruit, squeezing remaining pith to extract juices.
4. Quarter avocado, remove stone and peel.
5. Squeeze lemon juice over avocado to prevent browning.
6. Slice avocado into wedges and combine in a bowl with grapefruit, lettuce, olives, and dressing.
7. Arrange salad on serving plates, topping each one with several basil leaves and a drizzled tablespoon of avocado oil.
8. Sprinkle on bacon bits, if using.
9. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4

Recipe and photo from 3 Chefs: The Kitchen Men. Published by Whitecap Books Ltd, ©2010. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.