The Perfect Winter Salad

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Perfect Winter Salad

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.

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*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.

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*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!

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Written by

Tiffany M. Griffin is the woman behind Como Water, Washington DC’s premiere veg-centric cuisine consulting company. Through cooking classes, demonstrations, catering, and consultations, Como Water gives people the opportunity to learn how to prepare veg-centric cuisine that boasts maximum flavor, with minimal effort. Tiffany is quickly becoming a go-to expert on the future of veg-centric cuisine, and is a regular contributor to Como Water, the blog, as well as to vegetarian and vegan sites across the Internet. For over a decade, this self-taught, entrepreneurial expert has developed a set of tried and true techniques for making simple, delicious, and sometimes decadent veg-centric dishes. Featured on the Steve Harvey Show and other leading media outlets, Tiffany was born and raised in Springfield, MA. She then earned Bachelors degrees in Psychology and Communications from Boston College and a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Michigan. She now resides in Washington DC, where she has worked in the US Senate and at a federal agency on issues around health, food, nutrition, and international food aid/development, and of course, as the owner of Como Water. Tiffany gets culinary inspiration from the food she grew up eating, and from her travels throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She is dedicated to sharing her wealth of knowledge on veg-centric cuisine with others and to help others live by her mantra—love life, live long, and eat veg-centric cuisine!

Comments

  1. Tiffany, this looks great! I can’t wait to try it.

  2. Really nice salad. I need lots of vitamins and nutrition to fight this cold I have for a while. 🙂

  3. Just gorgeous!!

  4. What a great salad! I love that it is so colourful!

  5. Now, grapefruit isn’t the first ingredient that comes to mind when making a winter salad but I think it’s a truly great addition to balance the roasted beets and avocado. The more I study the ingredients, the more I could see myself eating this on a chilly winter day with a light soup or hearty bread on the side. Great recipe!

  6. Okay your site looks sooooo gorgeou!!! Sounds like 2013 is off to a beautiful start for you, love that!!! I love love golden beets…..did I mention I love golden beets? 😉 I love the flavors you mixed with the beets, the salad looks hearty, and truly delicious:-) Hugs, Terra

  7. Gorgeous new look, Tiffany! And what a lovely salad to complement your blog’s new outfit 🙂

  8. This unique combination of seasonal grapefruit and earthy beets gives this salad a fantastic flavor.

  9. Every ingredient, fantastic to sight and mouth-watering taste! I’m teaching my grand daughters the beauty of such clean foods and tastes as we cook in their kitchen on my baby sitting days! Thanking you for your recipe-boosting, nutrition promoting food site.