Cara Cara Winter Salad — Isabella Gambuto

Have you ever had a cara cara orange? They have pretty pink flesh and kind of taste like an orange, a grapefruit and a raspberry had a baby. I'd somehow never tried them until this year and they're in season and they're glorious! (All citrus is SO good right now FYI) It's my go to winter salad with a perfect balance of sweet, bitter, acid and creaminess. Plus it's super pretty! And no need to chop chop chop all the ingredients - it's what the French call a salade composse - basically a salad that has been arranged on a platter rather than mixed on a bowl. So all your have to do it arrange and drizzle! Here's what you need:

Cara Cara Winter Salad Recipe

INGREDIENTS

Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of a lemon, use only half if you're lemon is super big
1 small shallot, chopped
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
Pinch of salt

Salad:
1 head butter or little gem lettuce
1 head Treviso radicchio
1 cara cara orange, segmented (google how to do this if you don't know. It's easier than it sounds!)
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced

INSTRUCTIONS

First thing's first: make your vinaigrette!
Throw all your ingredients into a jar, close the lid and shake! By making the dressing first you give it take marinate and the shallots can really shine!
Rinse the lettuce and radicchio and gently rip the leaves off, making sure they're still intact.
Segment your orange and slice your avocado
Start arranging your salad! I used a platter but a large plate or dish will work too. Start with the lettuce then add your radicchio leaves. Then I layer the cara caras and finally the sliced avocado.
When you are ready to serve spoon dressing over your salad composee - making sure you get those minced shallots all up in that salad! You don't need to add the whole jar - I like to it about 2/3 on and put the rest out on the side in case anyone likes extra.
Sprinkle with good salt and enjoy!