Grapefruit-Avocado Salad with Jalapeno Dressing

If you're hacking your health by eating 20-30 servings of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes, you'll be happy to hear the ABC count in this recipe is six--grapefruit, avocado, jalapeno, spinach, iceberg, and pistachios. And since you make the dressing yourself, there aren't any emulsifiers in it. Your gut will thank you twice!

The recipe makes enough to make two main-dish salads, as shown in the picture, or you can omit the salmon salad, and prepare 4 or 6 small salads for an unusual and delicious side dish. To make this salad even more elegant, replace the salmon salad with grilled salmon, shrimp, scallops, or tofu. Instead of using 1/2 cup of dressing to make the salad, use it to marinade your choice of protein before grilling.

Ingredients:

1 large grapefruit, well-washed

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, approximate

1/8 cup olive oil

1/8 cup water

1 large jalapeno, seeded and finely minced

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 (6-ounce) cans salmon (I recommend Trader Joe's Alaskan Pink Salmon), well drained

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

2 cups spinach, chopped

1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

1 large avocado, sliced and peeled

1/4 cup pistachios

Directions:

Section grapefruit by evenly cutting off enough of both the top and bottom of the grapefruit to see the red flesh inside. Stand the grapefruit on one end, then carefully cut off the peel from top to bottom, reserving aside the peels. When the grapefruit is peeled, carefully cut the sections out of the interior pith by cutting a V-shape on the inside of each interior pith section, releasing the sectioned fruit. (If you've never sectioned fruit, here's a terrific YouTube video from MindBlown Chef video demonstrating the technique.)

To make the dressing, squeeze the juice from the peels and the interior pith. Add enough balsamic vinegar to make 1/2 cup. Add olive oil, water, jalapeno, and garlic powder, and stir to combine. Set aside.

To make the salmon salad, combine 1/2 cup dressing, salmon, and mayonnaise.

To prepare the salad, place half of the chopped spinach on the plate, then top with half of the iceberg lettuce, ensuring spinach is visible on the edges of the plate. Scoop half of the salmon in the center, then surround with half of the grapefruit and avocado slices. Drizzle with half of the remaining dressing and garnish with half of the pistachios. Repeat with remaining ingredients.