Citrus and Avocado Salad

It was one crazy holiday season for me and I still feel like I’m recovering. I created a whole month of Thanksgiving recipes, M and I went to Disney World (so much fun!), I was sick for a whole week in January with a bad cold and actually I was really sick for most of November and December too. M and I found out some exciting news that incidentally was also what caused me to be quite ill – I’m pregnant!

Here is the adorable announcement I created. I’m quite proud of it, actually:

Seeing the words in black and white, I can hardly believe it myself. I mean after spending most of my life trying not to get pregnant, it’s kind of odd to switch gears like that. For the first month (maybe longer) I kept having a feeling of sudden panic that I’d forgotten to take my birth control that day. It didn’t seem to matter that I had purposefully stopped taking it several months before. I guess old habits are hard to get away from.

I won’t go into the sick and twisted details of all the weird pregnancy symptoms I’ve had (and whatever the symptom is, believe me, I’ve had it!) because well, this is a recipe blog and you didn’t come here to read about my nonstop burping, strange bodily noises or what I puked up yesterday. What I will say is that being pregnant has changed my appetite quite a bit.

For a long time I couldn’t stomach the thought of shrimp which means my recipe for Cajun Shrimp and Corn Casserole was left completely untouched by me and left only to be consumed by my dear husband. I also tend to want the same thing over and over again which is incredibly weird for me, the person who never orders the same meal twice. Furthermore, I can’t seem to eat very much at a time; at first because I felt so ill, and now, more because my stomach is slowly becoming crowded out by a little human. This means that whatever I do eat I definitely want to make it count.

I’ve been leaning towards fresh, light meals that have a refreshing flavor rather than heavy comfort food. Citrus fruits are abound right now so I decided to take advantage of them by combining grapefruit and tangelo with avocado and a cool chive mint dressing. This salad wakes up the tastes buds but doesn’t weigh you down. Whether you are pregnant or not, this makes a perfect companion to any winter meal.

Citrus and Avocado Salad

www.barbaracooks.com

Servings: 4 • Size: 1 side salad • Weight Watcher Points+: 4

Calories: 174 • Fat: 10g • Carbs: 21g • Fiber: 7g • Protein: 3g

Sugars: 12g • Sodium: 144mg • Cholesterol: 0mg

Ingredients:

• 4 cups escarole (or baby spinach or arugula)
• 1 large pink grapefruit
• 2 medium tangelos (or oranges)
• 1 avocado
• 1 ½ Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon chopped mint
• 1 Tablespoon chopped chives
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Divide the escarole evenly among 4 side plates.

Remove the skin from the grapefruit and tangelos with a sharp knife, careful not to cut deeply into the flesh. Slice each fruit into ½ inch rings and cut the rings into half moons.

Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and peel the skin from the flesh. Place cut side down and slice into ¼ inch slices.

Arrange the grapefruit, tangelo and avocado on top of the escarole.

With a whisk or salad dressing shaker, combine the lemon juice, mint, chives, salt and pepper, honey and olive oil. Whisk together or shake if in a closed container. Pour dressing evenly over each of the salads. Serve immediately.