It’s time to shine the spotlight on some of those long lost meals that have been hiding in the depths of my memory and my computer, yearning to get a full page blog post, or at best, an honorable mention. A lot of these have recipes I’ve typed up or jotted down on (on a random piece of mail or a napkin), some of them have stories that go along with them, and others—the lost-boys of my kitchen—these ones just have pictures. A lot of pictures. Um… maybe thousands of pictures. It’s high time I let them into the light, and share them with the world. One at a time. Starting with this salad that you really need to know about.
I recently had a salad with fennel and grapefuit, and it brought to my attention the fact that I came up with a way better fennel-grapefuit salad this summer, and I never told you about it. It’s really sad that I didn’t share this with you when I first created it, back in the height of summer, when avocados and grapefruit were at their finest (and cheapest). I randomly threw this salad together on a whim and a craving, and it was so good that I recreated it over and over for two weeks. I even remember calling Mel, fork in hand, and gushing about my new salad. What I don’t remember, however, is what exactly went in to this beauty!
I’ve searched through my emails, notebooks, and files trying to find where I had written everything down, but to no avail. I know the basics—mixed greens, creamy and nutty sliced avocado, tart and slightly bitter grapefruit segments, and paper thin slices of licorice-scented fennel bulb. All of those things are awesome together, but I remember that the dressing was really the cherry on top. That damn dressing that I can’t remember for the life of me.
I know I squeezed a lot of fresh grapefruit juice into it, and definitely some olive oil, salt, and pepper. It might have had a splash of cider vinegar, and maybe a finely diced shallot—my vinaigrette go-to. Now, if I really rack my brain, I mean really try to take myself back a few months ago to when I was tossing this salad together, I sort of recall Dijon mustard, apricot jam, and maybe even honey. I'm sure all of the above would be delicious. But...what was for sure in that dressing!?
Recipe incomplete and memory in shambles, it didn't matter...I couldn't sit on this any longer. You needed to know. And now you can experiment with my possible inclusions, and let me know what you come up with! While you’re testing it out, I’m going to search through my backlog of mouthwatering food pics, and find another hidden gem that I’ve regretfully failed to tell you about.
