It's *officially* the first day of spring and the perfect occasion for this raw Spring Citrus Salad with creamy avocado, crunchy pistachios, and a drizzle of local honey. This green spin on the traditional Moroccan Citrus Salad made with cinnamon and sugar is light and refreshing in every way.
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Celebrate citrus season
Winter is the season for all things citrus!
Lemons, limes, oranges, clementines, blood oranges, they're all ripe and fresh in your local grocery store. What better way to highlight this colorful variety of fruit than a raw salad with creamy avocado, crunchy pistachios, and a drizzle of local honey?
Moroccan Desserts
In Morocco, the majority of the traditional desserts are made with puff pastry, sesame seeds, ground almonds, other nuts and (can you guess?) lots of gluten.
They're truly delicious and definitely a healthier spin on the average American cookie. My aunt serves them with mint tea in the afternoon.
But even as a little girl before my wheat allergy, I always gravitated towards the other kind of Moroccan desserts. The kind we had every night immediately after dinner.
Fruit
In Morocco, fruit is treated like a dessert. Because of that, we eat a lot of it. As we should everywhere!
It's highlighted with simple ingredients like cinnamon or honey and served on large lavish platters, cut in beautiful designs.
This Spring Citrus Salad is a spin on a beautiful dessert my aunt makes with cinnamon, honey, and orange slices.
It's all about the knife cuts
Now, when I set out to recipe test for this Citrus Salad, I was way underestimating this salad. I thought, "I'm just going to grab some oranges, peel them, slice them, and they will look awesome."
And look how awesome it turned out:
I mean, the colors are beautiful and everything but I just can't get over the white stuff (just googled it, apparently it's called pith). It looked nothing like my aunt's and the pith (which it turns out is actually pretty healthy for you) had a texture that was distracting to the appearance and texture of the salad.
And so, before conducting Recipe Testing Round 2, I called my dad and consulted with my aunt on their orange slicing technique.
All the way from Morocco, I deliver to you, the most effective way to cut beautifully sliced oranges, pith free:
First, start by slicing off the tops and bottoms of your oranges
Next, carve down the sides of the orange, just deep enough to remove the pith and peel. Repeat until every side of the orange flesh is showing
Then if any pith remains, trim it off.
Finally, slice your orange lengthwise to make round circular slices, and you're set!
Spring Citrus Salad with Avocado & Pistachios
It's *officially* the first day of spring and we're celebrating with this fresh and delicious Spring Citrus Salad with Avocado & Pistachios.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Raw
- Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients
- 1 blood orange
- 1 naval orange
- 2 tbsp pistachios, shelled and crushed
- 1 avocado
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp honey
Instructions
- Peel the oranges. Start by cutting off the top and bottom of the orange, then carefully slice off the skin (see image above.) Slice the oranges into thin rounds.
- Arrange orange slices on a salad plate or bowl. Add cubed avocado pieces, crushed pistachios and season lightly with cinnamon and salt. Drizzle with honey. Enjoy!
Keywords: Moroccan Citrus Salad, Blood Orange Salad
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