Blood Orange and Grapefruit Salad
This Blood Orange and Grapefruit Salad celebrates the best of winter citrus fruit. Find out how to make it below.
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Fruit Salad
This isn’t a savoury salad, it’s a fruit salad, made of two of my favourite citrus fruits: blood oranges and grapefruits. The great thing about fruit salads is they can be enjoyed at a range of different times: for breakfast, as a light lunch or snack, or even as a pudding.
I never really liked fruit salads as I often found them an odd mix of fruits. I remember fruit salads of my childhood including banana in the same dish as kiwi and grapes?!
This fruit salad is nothing like those random ensembles. My Blood Orange and Grapefruit Salad is just that – two delicious citrus fruits combined with pomegranate and mint for a really refreshing dish.
Blood Oranges
The first citrus fruit included in this salad is the blood orange. They are only available for such a short period of time (January – March) that whenever I do use them I want to make them the star of the show both in terms of their taste but also their colour.
Blood oranges get their red tint from the conditions in which they are grown. It needs to be warm during the say and then drop to -1°C or -2°C at night to trigger the change in colour.
In terms of flavour they aren’t that dissimilar to the grapefruit which is why they make such a good combination. But, they are sweeter with a hint of raspberry or even cherry flavours too. If you find grapefruit too bitter then combining them with blood oranges is the perfect way to balance them out.
You can’t always tell what colour your blood oranges will be. It just so happened that the pink grapefruits I used this time were a similar blush colour to my blood oranges. But still, I think the blood oranges make for a really beautiful dish.
If you aren’t able to get blood oranges then you can of course use regular oranges instead.
Grapefruit
For this recipe you can use any type of grapefruit you wish. I used red grapefruit as I wanted this fruit salad to have the colours of the sunset but pink grapefruit or white grapefruit also work well.
The more red the grapefruit the sweeter it is so bear that in mind when you choose the grapefruit that best suits your tastes.
Pomegranate, pistachio and mint
To finish off this recipe I’ve used pomegranate and mint. I use the pomegranate as it adds a syrupy flavour and a crunchy texture to the dish.
The pistachio also adds texture but a more savoury, nutty flavour as well.
The mint helps to make the dish feel fresh and vibrant. They also make the fruit salad really attractive which is great if you’re serving this as a dinner party dessert or palate cleanser.
How to segment citrus fruit
You will notice that instead of slicing my blood oranges and grapefruit I have segmented them. It makes for a more satisfying texture in the mouth than slices do.
I think some people are daunted by the idea of segmenting a citrus fruit but it really isn’t as tricky as you think.
- Begin by carefully cutting off the top and bottom of the orange (or other citrus fruit) with a small, sharp knife.
- Place the orange so that it is sitting with one flat bottom on the chopping board and the other facing up.
- Start cutting away the pith and skin in a downward motion, following the curve of the orange. Try to avoid cutting away too much of the actual fruit.
- If necessary, trim away any remaining pith.
- Next slide the knife down between the membrane of a segment, then do the same on the following side to cut out the perfect wedge/segment.
- Keep repeating this as you turn the orange round in your hand.
And there you have it, beautiful segments of orange (or grapefruit)!
The recipe
Blood Orange and Grapefruit Salad
Ingredients
- 2 blood oranges
- 1 grapefruit
- 0.5 pomegranate
- 2 tbsp pistachios roughly chopped
- mint
Instructions
- Begin by carefully cutting off the top and bottom of the orange with a small, sharp knife.
- Place the orange so that it is sitting with one flat bottom on the chopping board and the other facing up.
- Start cutting away the pith and skin in a downward motion, following the curve of the orange. Try to avoid cutting away too much of the actual fruit.
- If necessary, trim away any remaining pith.
- Next slide the knife down between the membrane of a segment, then do the same on the following side to cut out the perfect wedge/segment.
- Keep repeating this as you turn the orange round in your hand.
- Repeat the above steps with the grapefruit.
- Arrange the orange and grapefruit segments into your bowls or on to a plate.
- Take the half of a pomegranate and hit with the back of a spoon until you’ve removed all of the seeds.
- Sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds and the roughly chopped pistachios.
- Add a few leaves of mint and serve.
Nutrition
More blood orange recipes
Blood Orange Crepes
The winter recipe archive
If you want to try more seasonal recipes then check out the winter recipe archive.