I've Got Sunshine!

One of my favorite lunches is a spring mix salad with pear or apple, pecans, feta cheese, and maybe some grilled chicken strips or turkey, tossed with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

However, January's colder temperatures and dreary days have had me craving heartier fare based mostly around bread and potatoes.

I was longing for something lighter and healthier, but salad still didn't have any appeal.

So a few morning ago when I opened my email, I was excited to find a citrus/mint/feta salad recipe from Smitten Kitchen (www.smittenkitchen.com).

It was just what I needed to brighten a dreary day, and make me feel healthy again!

Fortunately, I had every ingredient on hand. I had plenty of grapefruit left from the BOGO special at Publix (www.publix.com) a couple weeks ago, as well as a big tub of feta, oranges, and even fresh mint growing in my kitchen windowsill! Smitten Kitchen's recipe called for red onion, but I have developed some sort of food intolerance for onions both cooked and raw (wah!!!!) so I left that out.

I was not sure how Chicago Man would feel about the salad, but he loved it! We had it with burgers made from Laura's Lean Beef (www.laurasleanbeef.com), and that was really all we needed for a healthy and zesty dinner.

For two of us, I used one grapefruit and one orange. Next time, I will double that because we enjoyed the salad so much we could have used second helpings.

Following Smitten Kitchen's advice, I cut the ends off the citrus, then peeled them getting off as much white pith as possible. Then I sliced the fruits into pinwheels, added a few tablespoons of feta and a few chopped mint leaves, and followed Smitten's dressing recipe of

1 TB red wine vinegar or lemon juice (I used the vinegar);
1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard;
1 TB olive oil,
and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. (I used my new pink Himalayan salt from Trader Joe's www.traderjoes.com)!

This delightful, colorful salad really boosted my mood and gave me a different perspective on how to think--and eat--outside the box.

And preparing for this post also gave Chicago Man the opportunity to teach me more about flash techniques! Next time my photos will be much more professional!