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This chopped salad features a little treasure

Recipe: Grapefruit, roasted beet and avocado chopped salad with vanilla vinaigrette

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED FEB 14, 2021

Salad plate with grapefruit beets and feta — This chopped salad features Cocktail grapefruit, roasted
beets, avocado and feta cheese. Toss with a
vanilla vinaigrette. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

We have a little grapefruit tree. It's the tree that's small, not the fruit.

Barely 5 feet tall, this dwarf citrus carries emotional ties, too. It came from Capital Nursery's going-out-of-business sale; specifically, the Capital Nursery on Freeport Boulevard that closed in 2012. The tree is a constant reminder of that now-long-gone landmark.

The variety -- Cocktail -- is outstanding in flavor: sweet and tangy with that distinctive grapefruit scent. And very, very seedy.

Cocktail is not a true grapefruit, but a cross between a pummelo and a mandarin. Some growers refer to it as a "Mandelo."

This hybrid was developed by citrus researchers in Riverside and, according to some sources, was never intended for commercial release due to too many seeds. Home gardeners discovered Cocktail's great flavor and have helped this unusual variety persist.

I treat every Cocktail I get from my little tree as a treasure -- mostly because the dwarf tree bears only a few full-size fruit at a time. This winter's crop -- four! -- each weighed more than 20 ounces. And each grapefruit starred in its own dish -- including this salad.

Cocktail grapefruit cut open — The Cocktail grapefruit are precious and delicious.

Because of the many seeds, segments of Cocktail tend to end up chopped after peeling. That makes them ideal for a chopped salad, combined with roasted beets, avocado and iceberg lettuce, dressed with a vanilla vinaigrette and topped by feta cheese.

Unless you want the whole salad to turn pink while tossing, add the beets last.

Grapefruit, roasted beet and avocado chopped salad with vanilla vinaigrette

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

Vanilla vinaigrette (recipe below)

Roasted beets are skinned and ready
to add to the salad.

2 large beets, roasted, peeled and chopped
1 grapefruit, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 large avocado, seeded and chopped
2 cups iceberg lettuce, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, chopped or crumbled

Instructions:

In a small bowl, combine chopped beets with 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette. Set aside.

In a large salad bowl, combine grapefruit, avocado, lettuce and celery. Add remaining vinaigrette and toss gently.

To serve, divide grapefruit-lettuce mixture into bowls or onto plates. Top with beets and feta cheese. Serve.

Vanilla vinaigrette:
1/4 cup grapefruit or orange juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 dash Tabasco
Salt and pepper to taste

In a jar, combine all ingredients. Cover and shake. Use immediately or store covered in refrigerator.

To roast beets: Trim tops to 1-inch and snip off long root. Wrap beets individually in foil and roast at 350 degrees F. until easily pieced with a thin knife, about 45 to 60 minutes depending on size. After roasting, beets can be easily peeled.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes Cocktail grapefruit Sacramento produce management winter salad citrus fruit mandarins citrus gardening grapefruit backyard produce beets salad

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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