Citrus Avocado Salad

This Citrus Avocado Salad is an easy and refreshing side dish for everyone, even salad haters!

Colorful layers of juicy citrus, creamy avocado, pickled red onion, salty feta and crunchy pistachios are perfect any time of year. No boring ol’ lettuce here!

Plus it’s naturally low carb, gluten-free and grain-free.

And to make it dairy-free/vegan/Whole30-friendly, just replace the feta with your favorite olives and you’re all set!

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Citrus Avocado Salad

This healthy avocado salad is so colorful, vibrant and well-balanced, you’ll find any excuse to make it.

One of my favorite things about it is, unlike other salads, you don’t really need to wait for the ingredients to be in season. These ingredients taste good all year!

Once you make it, you won’t even need the recipe anymore. You’ll just throw it together over and over again.

It’s simple enough for a weeknight but elegant enough for a dinner party.

You can use whatever citrus you want – oranges, grapefruit, blood oranges, mandarins, satsumas, etc. Even canned mandarin slices work!

What you need to make this Citrus Avocado Salad

In addition to the main ingredients above, you’ll need a few pantry staples:

• 3 oranges
• 2 avocados
• 1 red onion
• 2-3 oz. solid or crumbled feta
• 3-4 tablespoons roasted, salted pistachios
• 1/2-3/4 cup red wine vinegar
• flaky sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; some of my favorites (that are real olive oil, not fake blends; read more about that here) are:
  • California Olive Ranch
  • O-live & Co.
  • Lucini
  • Cobram Estate (with a built-in nozzle that makes it perfect for drizzling)

Plus:

• a good knife
• a cutting board
• a glass jar for the pickled red onions
• a large serving platter and serving utensils

How to pick an avocado

Your avocado is ripe if it’s mostly firm (but not rock hard) with a bit of give toward the top.

Pluck off the little stem and it should be mostly green underneath. If it has just a little brown, that’s fine. But if it’s mostly brown underneath it won’t be good.

If you buy it too early and it’s not ripe, leave out on the counter. If you buy it too early and it’s already ripe (or close), store in the fridge to slow down the process.

How to make this Citrus Avocado Salad

Here’s what you do:

• First, you make the pickled red onion.
  • If you really like raw red onion, you can skip this step. But pickling tames them by mellowing the harsh raw flavor. And it’s so easy! You just soak slices of red onion in red wine vinegar. It helps to do this at least 30 minutes before you want to make the recipe but a day in advance is best. Then you can keep any leftovers in a glass jar in the fridge for up to a week.
• Then you slice the oranges (or whatever citrus you have).
  • You’re going to slice off the tops and bottoms and place the orange cut side down. Use your knife to cut down along with side of the orange, removing the peel and white pith in strips. Flip it over to get any bits you missed on the bottom. Make sure all the white pith is removed. Cut the orange in half top to bottom. Place the halves cut side down and slice into half moons.
• Next you slice the avocado.
  • First slice the avocado all the way around in half and separate the halves. Carefully thwack the knife (technical term) into the pit and twist to remove. Cut the avocado into slices crosswise. The slices around the pit might break into two but that’s fine. We just want slices similar in size to the citrus slices for easy eating. Who doesn’t love easy eating?
• Roughly chop the pistachios. We’re looking for chunks, not a powder.
• Now you plate it all up!
  • Layer the citrus and avocado slices together and sprinkle with flaky sea salt (keep in mind the feta or olives will also add some saltiness). Strew the pickled red onion over the fruit, letting any excess vinegar dribble onto the plate (this and this oil make the dressing). Cut or crumble the feta and the chopped pistachios all over and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. And you’re done! Dig in!

Can you make this in advance?

You can make the pickled red onion up to a week in advance and keep in the fridge.

If necessary, you can slice the oranges up to a day in advance and keep them in the fridge.

Otherwise, this salad is best served immediately.

How to make it vegan and Whole30 friendly

Simply replace the feta with the same amount of your favorite pitted olives, coarsely chopped if desired. They’ll add saltiness like feta does plus their own chewy texture.

What to serve with this citrus avocado salad

You can find these ingredients any time of year. So this salad would be good in the winter when you’re craving fresh fruits and vegetables.

It would be good in the spring, like with this easy lamb ragu or as part of this gluten-free Easter menu.

It would be good in the summer, next to this Italian mixed grill or this crunchy plantain chip chicken.

Or it would be good in the fall, like with this sheet pan salmon with carrots and fennel.

 

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