Florida Citrus Salad with Mango-Tangerine Dressing

As soon as the temperatures up North begin to drop, my area of Florida starts prepping for our annual “snowbird” migration. And with the wicked winter so many have been enduring, we are very BUSY down here! One of the first places the tourists flock to are the citrus groves where our incredibly sweet and beautifully-colored jewels await! Succulent tangerines, oranges and grapefruits of myriad varieties are quickly scooped up for shipping to far away destinations. And if the “natives” don’t hurry, they often lose out on capturing some of these juicy morsels…especially ones with a short growing season. I hope you enjoy this taste of our beloved Florida citrus. When making this salad, please choose varieties that can be found in your area.

Florida Citrus Salad with Mango-Tangerine Dressing

Yield: about 4 servings

Click HERE for the full recipe, but in the nutshell, here is what you do:

Instructions

With a sharp serrated knife, cut away skin from mango. Cut flesh away from pit. Cut mango into chunks .

Remove skin and as much of the thick white pith as possible from grapefruits and tangerines or oranges. Cut into horizontal slices. Remove any seeds.

Place greens on a large serving plate. Arrange fruit and hearts of palm on top.

Drizzle with Mango-Tangerine Dressing. Serve chilled.

Print Recipe

Florida Citrus Salad with Mango-Tangerine Dressing

As soon as the temperatures up North begin to drop, my area of SW Florida starts prepping for our annual “snowbird” migration. One of the first places they flock to is the citrus groves where our incredibly sweet and beautifully-colored jewels await! Succulent tangerines, oranges and grapefruits of myriad varieties are quickly scooped up for shipping to far away destinations. And if the “natives” don’t hurry, they often lose out on capturing some of these juicy morsels…especially ones with a short growing season. I hope you enjoy this taste of our beloved Florida citrus. When making this salad, please choose varieties that can be found in your area.

Author: Linda Shapiro, © Meal Planning Maven

Ingredients

• About 8 large strawberries halved (with leaves remaining if desired)
• 2 large ruby red or pink grapefruit
• 2 large white grapefruit
• 2 large tangerines/tangelos or oranges
• 1 14 ounce can hearts of palm, rinsed, drained and sliced
• 1 large ripe mango
• About 4 cups red leaf or green leaf romaine or salad greens of your choice

• Mango-Tangerine Dressing

Instructions

• With a sharp serrated knife, cut away skin from mango. Cut flesh away from pit. Cut mango into chunks.
• Remove skin and as much of the thick white pith as possible from grapefruits and tangerines or oranges. Cut into horizontal slices. Remove any seeds.
• Place greens on a large serving plate. Arrange fruit and hearts of palm on top.
• Drizzle with Mango-Tangerine Dressing. Serve chilled.

Notes

Make Ahead and Storage Tips: Salad may be assembled up to 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Add dressing prior to serving. Salad is best enjoyed that day.

Notes

Citrus: Multiple factors determine how sweet our citrus is each season. The most succulent citrus is often found after the area has experienced some “good” cold snaps. Not the hard freezes that can damage (and even ruin) citrus, but just cold enough to nicely sweeten. Featured in this salad are Florida ruby red and white grapefruits which can range in taste from incredibly sweet to a bit tart. Also included are our treasured Florida Honeybell tangelos which are so juicy, you often need to eat them over the sink to avoid a huge mess! Feel free to choose any type of oranges, grapefruits or tangerines that are available in your area.

Strawberries: It wouldn’t be winter in Florida without a plentiful selection of incredibly huge and oh-so-sweet strawberries. “U-pick” groves abound, much to the delight of kids and grown-ups everywhere! But alas, come the beginning of April, we wave good-bye to our precious strawberries until they return next season!

Mangoes: are commonly found growing on local neighborhood trees and are sweet and juicy beyond belief! When buying mangoes, look for ones that are firm, yet have a little “give” when pressed with your finger. If very green and hard when purchased, wait a few days before using.

This salad can easily be adapted to feed more people. Simply adjust the quantities of fruit, greens and dressing as needed.

Are you “mango crazy”? Then you must try my Pecan-Crusted Cod with Mango Salsa and Florida Seafood Salad with Mango-Tangerine Dressing ..

Click HERE for Pecan-Crusted Cod with Mango Salsa Recipe

Click HERE for Florida Seafood Salad with Mango-Tangerine Dressing Recipe

Coming to the Blog: Say Hello to Spring with Chicken, Roasted Vegetable ‘n Quinoa Toss

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