Avocado and Orange Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

Avocado and orange salad brings the perfect amount of creaminess, brightness, and sweetness to your plate. 

I volunteer with an organization called All Hands on Deck STL which hosts food shares around the city. Volunteers pick up excess food from grocery stores and have popup groceries around the city 5 days a week. People shop for free and can select from an abundance of quantity and variety of produce among dairy, meats, seafood, and eggs. Recently we had a massive quantity of avocados so I was giving people ideas what to do with them. I got many surprised looks when I suggested this salad, but the looks of surprise soon turned to piques of interest.

I could feel the same surprise if only because I had the same feeling when I read about a similar salad in Salt, Fat, Acid Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat. But, if you think about it, the combination does make sense because perhaps one of the most common uses of avocados in the US is in guacamole which has plenty … citrus.

Orange Vinaigrette Ingredients
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbl white wine vinegar
½ tsp orange zest
¼ tsp lemon zest
2 Tbl lemon juice
3 Tbl orange juice
⅛ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ c avocado oil

Orange Vinaigrette Directions
Add 1 tsp minced garlic and 1 Tbl white wine vinegar to a jar with a tight fitting lid. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Add ½ tsp orange zest, ¼ tsp lemon zest, 2 Tbl lemon juice, 3 Tbl orange juice, ⅛ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, and ½ c of avocado oil to the garlic mixture. Close the jar and shake until the mixture is homogeneous. 

Notes
You can use just about any vinegar. If you don’t have any vinegar, add more lemon juice.

You can use another neutral flavor oil such as grapeseed or sunflower oil. I don’t recommend olive oil because it can overpower the citrus.

Avocado and Orange Salad
For 2 servings
1 shallot (3 Tbl sliced)
1 orange (½ c chopped)
1 avocado (¾ c chopped)
2 c of crispy salad greens
2 c arugula
5 Tbl orange vinaigrette
1 Tbl sesame seeds

Avocado and Orange Salad Directions
Slice the two ends off of the shallot. Slice it in half pole to pole. Lay it flat with the cut side down. Slice it as thinly as you can, cutting it from pole to pole.

Take an orange and slice off the two ends. Stand it upright and pass your knife in a downward motion following the curve of the orange to remove the peel. Make sure you have a really sharp knife (if you don’t have one, use a serrated knife). Turn the orange on its side. Slice it into ½” rounds. Lay the round flat and cut it into 1/2 “ strips then rotate the strips 90 degrees and cut into ½” squares.

Hold the avocado upright with the stem side down. Take a knife and make a large x through the skin. Peel off the skin. Lay the avocado flat and slice your knife to make a cut from the stem side to the bottom. Don’t cut the seed. Flip the avocado over and continue the cut. Pick up the avocado and gently twist and and remove the seed. Please do not whack the seed with your knife to remove it. That is how you will end up with your knife stuck in the seed and your hand stitched up. Cut the avocado into ⅓” planks, then strips, and into cubes.

On a dinner size plate, drizzle 1 Tbl of orange vinaigrette on the plate. Add 1 c of greens and drizzle 1 Tbl of vinaigrette over it. Add 1 c of arugula and drizzle 1 Tbl of vinaigrette over it. Repeat. Add ¾ c avocados on top of the greens, followed by 3 Tbl shallot, and ½ c of oranges. Top it with 1 Tbl of sesame seeds.

Notes
For crispy greens, you can use young green leaf lettuce or hearts of romaine. In place of arugula, you can use another spicy green like dandelions.