Citrus Salad

Got a case of the Mondays? This vibrant, refreshing salad should snap you out of it! It makes for a great reviving lunch; or, it could even be a breakfast salad. The citrus flavors are great for waking you up!

This was my first time using kumquats, so I was pretty excited to satisfy my veggieosity and test them out in this delicious salad...

Adapted from and inspired by Fragrant Vanilla Cake's Winter Citrus Salad
Serves 2
Ingredients:

• 1 large ripe mango
• 1 large ripe grapefruit
• 1 can mandarin oranges
• 6-7 kumquats
• Greens of choice for salad (baby spinach, arugula, baby lettuce blend) 

For dressing (optional; see notes below)

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp lime juice, plus lime zest
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• Dash of sea salt 

Steps:

1. Peel the grapefruit so that all skin is removed. Drain the oranges, and place in a large bowl with the peeled grapefruit. Slice the mangoes and place those in the bowl as well; you can reserve any excess liquid from cutting the mangoes & peeling the grapefruit in the bowl, as it will add to the dressing flavor.
2. To make the dressing, whisk the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. 
3.  To serve, toss about two large handfuls of greens with the fruit; add desired amount of dressing. 

A beautiful bowl of "wake me up" citrus!

Notes:
I actually think the dressing isn't even needed here, since you get so much delicious flavor & juices from the fresh fruit. But, the poppy seeds do add a nice element, so you could always use a little lime juice and poppy-seed mix if you want a completely fat-free version.

The original recipe actually called for avocado instead of mango; unfortunately, I'd completely forgotten I was going to use that little avocado in this dish, and had eaten it earlier in the week. Whoops ;-) Luckily, the mango went perfectly in here and turned out to be a really nice change, since I usually put avocado in my salads.

So what about the kumquats? They definitely went well in this dish, and were so zesty & vibrant. They actually kind of remind me of eating a lemon though; not quite that tart, but definitely lemony-tasting. I think they make for a great addition to salads like this one. And did you know they are the only citrus fruit that you can eat the peel? Kind of cool, huh? (And a good thing, because who would want to peel those little suckers?!)