Citrus and avocado are by far one of the most underrated food combinations I’ve ever come across. Sure, everyone is on board with adding a little lemon or lime to the guacamole they mash up for a party to keep it from going brown, but its far less common to see a dish with both citrus and avocado playing off each other.
I’m not the first person to ever add oranges and avocado to a salad, not by a long shot! The credit for my discovery of this combination goes to a local artisan cafe I frequent all the time. I ordered some fancy toast with blood orange and avocado slices layered over goat cheese on some amazing bread. I was a little skeptical at first but knew I should trust myself and the cafe. At first bite, I was in foodie heaven and did a little dance at the table.
I knew I wanted to recreate the combination at home, so I ended up going for a salad! I thought about adding some goat cheese crumbles but just ended up not doing it out of sheer laziness. I also would have needed to have goat cheese on hand, which I didn’t. It would taste sooo good though and I totally plan to add goat cheese next time! It would bridge the flavor combination well.
Now, I’ve got a good salad that will take me all through spring and summer! I can switch up some of the greens–maybe add some kale, spinach, and bean sprouts. Or, I could add some grapefruit into the mix, too.
To complement the salad, I blended some fresh flat-leaf parsley, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and avocado to create a flavorful punch with each bite. I don’t usually have salad dressing on hand because I don’t always like how there are too many ingredients that go into the store-bought dressings, so making this lemon and parsley salad dressing was worth all the trouble to me. And by trouble, I mean roughly chopping up some garlic and parsley before throwing all the ingredients into the food processor.
Here’s how you make the salad!
I would say this makes 2-3 servings depending on whether you’re eating this as a meal or as a side salad along with an entreé.
Ingredients
- 4 - 6 cups of mixed greens
- 1 avocado, halved, cut into slices
- 2 fresh oranges (I'm using cara cara here), cut into slices
- 1/2 large cucumber, cut into slices
- 2 cups fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: crumbled goat cheese
Instructions
- Simply put the mixed greens into a mixing or salad bowl, and add the avocado slices, orange slices, and cucumber slices on top.
- Gently toss to mix it evenly.
- To make the dressing, add the parsley, lemon juice, garlic, other avocado half, salt, and pepper to a food processor and blend.
- For a runnier consistency, add a little water.
Another variation of the salad is to switch up the dressing! A traditional balsamic vinaigrette or another light dressing could be good options here. It’s up to you to decide how you want to make your salad!
So, what are your thoughts? Do you think you’re going to try out this salad, or at the very least, mixing avocado and other citrus fruits together? You really should give it a shot!
Yum
