Slowly, but surely I’m recreating the 9–count them–9 blog posts I lost in the transition. Enough complaining though. There’s a salad to tell you about. But first, I want to rant. 🙂

I’ve seen a number of posts on Facebook and Twitter from folks downing those individuals who have decided to make resolutions. The flavor of each post is slightly different, but the basic message is the same–“you should be doing [insert resolution here] year round, blah, blah, blah.” Well, my two cents is, if you’ve been introspective enough to find a dimension of your life you’d like to work on, then New Years is a good a time as any to start. I, for one, believe that life is a process, progress is continual, and I am constantly, yes constantly striving to be a better person. I really like symbolic moments–New Years, Easter, the Spring Equinox, my birthday, Thanksgiving–to reflect on who I am and who I’d like to be. So to the millions of folks out there who decided to [insert resolution here], I stand here in solidarity with you, encouraging you to reach your goals! To the naysayers who judge, tell resolution makers that they should be “doing the right thing all year round,” and apparently feel perfect enough to resist making goals, I say, “Judge Not”… and you know the rest. 🙂

Off soapbox and officially in salad mode! This was our first “course” for Christmas dinner. Ok, course is way too formal (ahem, we ate on disposal plates, lol). Ok, this was how our meal opened :). Sweet roasted beets, creamy avocado, tart grapefruit and pomegranate seeds, crunchy radish–this is truly the ultimate winter salad and the epitome of the adage–you eat with your eyes first. Happy Friday folks! 😀

The Perfect Winter Salad

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

1. pomegranate seeds
2. golden beets–roasted and diced
3. radish–thinly sliced
4. avocado–sliced
5. grapefruit segments
6. 2 tablespoons olive oil (plus some for roasting)
7. 1 tablespoon grapefruit juice
8. salt
9. pepper
10. 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
11. 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

Method:

*Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash, scrub, and quarter beets. Add to baking dish with drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast ~30 minutes, turning 1-2 times, or until beets are tender. Set aside.

*Remove pomegranate seeds from membrane and slice radish, set aside. Supreme grapefruit by removing peel and pith, and cutting into flesh to remove segments. Set segments aside. Squeeze juice from remaining grapefruit (after removing segments), set aside. Once beets are cool enough to handle, remove peel (if you’d like), and dice into cubes. Slice avocado.

*Whisk olive oil, grapefruit juice, mustard, and balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper. Arrange pomegranate, beets, radish, avocado, and grapefruit onto serving platter. Drizzle lightly with vinaigrette. Enjoy!