Add a Pop of Grapefruit to Dishes and Salads

Following a healthy diet doesn’t mean that you have to eat the same dish every day. As the seasons change, so should your meals and the ingredients you add to them. Each season offers its own unique variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that can be added to recipes for a boost of freshness and originality.

“One-half of a Florida grapefruit contains 100 percent of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C, so this touch of natural sweetness in your meals will also help support a healthy immune system,” says Emily Richards, a home economist.

Richards reminds us that putting a salad on our menu is a great way to get the daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables – and it’s also a good way to experiment with in-season produce.

“Best of all, salads can be salty or sweet, hot or cold, and made with a variety of textures,” she points out. “The recipe for Florida Grapefruit and Jicama Vietnamese Salad, for example, combines flavors from Florida grapefruit, soy sauce and rice vinegar with the crunchy texture of Mexican jicama. It is a spiced up, refreshing salad, that is a great addition to serve alongside your favorite protein or fish. Using in-season produce makes this dish as fresh as it is flavorful.”

Florida Grapefruit and Jicama Vietnamese Salad

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 8 cups (2 L)

Ingredients:

1 small jicama, peeled (about 1 1/4 lb/600 g)

3 cups (750 ml) shredded napa cabbage

2 Florida ruby red grapefruits, peeled and segmented

1 carrot, shredded

1 cup (250 ml) diced English cucumber

3 tbsp (45 ml) Florida ruby red grapefruit juice

2 tbsp (30 ml) each soy sauce and rice vinegar

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp (30 ml) liquid honey

2 tsp (10 ml) sriracha chili sauce

Directions:

Thinly slice jicama and stack slices. Cut into 2 inch (5 cm) matchstick size strips and place in a large bowl. Add cabbage, Florida grapefruit segments, carrot and cucumber.

In a small bowl, whisk together Florida grapefruit juice, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, honey and chili sauce. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Let stand 10 minutes before serving for flavors to develop.

Makes 8 servings.

More information and additional recipes are available at www.facebook.com/FloridaGrapefruitCA.

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