almost springtime winter salad

Springtime is here!!! Well - weather-wise, at least.  It's a cool 72 degrees outside, with a lot of sunshine...heck, the flowers are already blooming.  So, feeling sprite, I basically skipped my way to the market to pick up some rejuvenating goodies.  Alas, I arrived only to be brought back to reality, recalling that it is in fact only March! Either way, Spring's bounty is soon to arrive! That being said, I decided to stick with some regular winter greens, and make a delicious, exciting...salad? Yeah, you heard me right.  Delicious and exciting.  Hungry man scoffing at the fact that this is about a salad - you can have it as a starter with plenty of other dishes as well, and it's sure to not disappoint.

Kale with Grapefruit, Avocado, and Ceviched Onions

Serves 2 as a meal, 4 as a starter

~2 cups roughly chopped mixed kale 

1 lime

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 ruby red grapefruit, supremed

1 avocado, halved and sliced

1 lime

Fresh black pepper

Vinaigrette:

Juice of 1/2 lime

3 T olive oil

Pinch of sea salt

Few grinds of black pepper

1/4-1/2 t minced jalapeno (or habanero, if ya nasty)

To start, make the vinaigrette.  Place all of the ingredients in a small jar and shake away until emulsified. The ingredients may separate while you're assembling the rest of the salad, but you can just reshake it before dressing the salad.  

Next, "ceviche" the onions.  I used a mandolin for my onions, so they were super thin - but the thickness is all up to you! Place them in a shallow bowl with the juice of 1/2 lime.  Let these sit - the longer they sit, the less bite there is to the onion. 

When you're ready to plate, get all of your items ready for assembly! Break the grapefruit supreme sections into tiny pieces, and squeeze the remaining 1/2 lime over the avocado.  For a meal, divide the two kales into two big bowls.  I used Red Russian, lacinato, purple curly, and dinosaur kales. Divide the remaining ingredients among the plates evenly.  Reshake the vinaigrette to combine, and drizzle a bit over each salad - be sure to get some of the pepper pieces! Give each a fresh grind of black pepper, and enjoy!

Seriously, bomb salad.  It's refreshing and light, yet satisfying and filling.  And all of the flavors go so well together! There's a great acidity in the salad from the citrus juices, but also a sweetness from the grapefruit, and a bit of butteriness from the avocados.  Any bite that picks up a piece of pepper from the vinaigrette gives an awesome subtle heat too! A must make!