Monday, March 8, 2010

The Easiest Salad I’ve ever made - and one of the tastiest!

It is still winter in Northern Vermont. The ground is covered with snow, but the days are noticeably longer, sun is stronger and I saw two cardinals in my backyard yesterday. But salad days are still a long way off and salads won’t replace soups anytime soon in our daily meal planning. Except for one, the Avocado Grapefruit Salad that my mother used to make (we are talking well over half a century ago......).

There are only two ingredients in this salad and the name tells all. One ripe avocado, one ruby grapefruit - that’s it. I start with the grapefruit as the acid in its juice will keep the avocado from turning brown when it is cut. I cut the grapefruit in half and using a curved grapefruit knife (one of the few items in my kitchen that has only one use) carefully cut the sections of fruit away from the membrane. Drop them into a bowl large enough to hold both ingredients and squeeze out the remaining juice over the sections. Cut the avocado in half, remove the large pit and score the flesh into “cubes” the size of the grapefruit pieces. With a spoon scrape them away from the skin and drop them into the bowl being sure to cover them with juice. Mix well and admire how the spring green of the avocado sets off the rose of the grapefruit visually just as the smooth creamy avocado sets off the tart grapefruit "explosion." Serve in two small bowls and enjoy. That’s all there is to it.