meals at home: Ruby Red Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

As I sit in front of a very angry Pacific Ocean, (our weekend get-away rental is perched, literally, on top of the sea, where the weather isn't exactly cooperating with my idea of beach weather), I have decided to imagine that it's hot outside, (like it was last year), and that I will be eating this salad for lunch...

Yvette and I did this photo shoot ages ago and it kinda got lost in the shuffle, but what better time to share this beautiful salad with you as we could all use a reminder that spring is around the corner, and this salad is perfect for lunch on a warm day. With buttery avocados, crunchy hazelnuts, and juicy pink grapefruit segments, this bright, cheery salad is simply lovely. I like to serve it for brunch with a hearty veggie fritatta and bubbly mimosas.

Before diving in to the recipe, which is really simple and takes very little effort, I'd like to share a quick tip on how to supreme a grapefruit. This is the technique of removing segments of citrus, excluding the tough membrane which holds each meaty piece of fruit together. Use this for any citrus fruit.

First step is to cut the very top and bottom off of the fruit, just enough to get through the rind, where the fruit begins. This helps stabilize the fruit as well as gives you a guide of where to cut around the fruit.

Remove the rind and pith, (that white bitter skin between the fruit and rind).

Once all the rind is removed, hold the fruit over a bowl, (this collects the juice that you will want to use for dressing).

Cut in between each segment, in a wedge, and remove segment, leaving the membrane behind. Drop it into the bowl below and continue around the fruit.

After all the segemnets have been removed, squeeze what you have, (we'll call it the skeleton), in your hand to collect all the juice left behind.

Remove the segments from bowl and set aside, keeping the juice that you collected in the bowl.