Citrus Salad

For those gourmands who love seasonal ingredients and take local eating seriously, the winter can be a frustrating time of year. Not a fresh fruit in sight and apples and pears get pretty tiresome. To combat this Great White North dilemma I officially declare winter “Citrus Season”. We should all be eating as much citrus as possible. Blood oranges, tangerines, mandarins, Meyer lemons, grapefruits. I implore you to eat them all. They are so refreshingly delicious. They enhance the flavours of other foods. And while I’m no doctor I feel qualified to say that the vitamin C will do you some good.

I cook with citrus segments as often as possible and especially like to use citrus segments in my cooking. If you are unfamiliar with the proper way to segment an orange or grapefruit watch the video below to see how Chef Michael Symon does it. It’s easy to learn and worth the effort. And once you master this technique make my citrus salad using the following recipe. It’s great on its own, served with pancakes, tossed in a salad, spooned over yogurt… You get the idea. Eat citrus now. Your taste buds and immune system will thank you.

Citrus Salad

5 Blood Oranges, peeled and segmented

3 Meyer Lemons, peeled and segmented

5 Honey Tangerines, peeled and segmented

5 Naval Oranges, peeled and segmented

2 Ruby Red Grapefruit, peeled and segmented

1 Lime, zested, peeled and segmented

1/2 Vanilla Bean

1 Tsp Honey

In a bowl, toss all citrus segments together. Split vanilla bean in half and scrape the inside of the pod with a paring knife. Add vanilla, lime zest and honey to citrus segments and toss gently. Serve with EVERYTHING.