Grapefruit and Avocado Winter Salad

If you're feeling the winter blues right about now, this salad is the antidote you need. With ruby red grapefruit and creamy avocado at center stage, plus a little help from crisp fennel and a handful of greens, it's a cold-weather staple in my meal plan for light lunches and simple dinners that I've been leaning on in various forms for years.

While it won't do anything about the sub-freezing temps or those mounds of snow outside, its invigorating mix of bright, fresh, tangy flavors will bring a burst of sunny warmth every time you serve it.

Your All-Purpose Winter Salad

Consider this bright and tangy number your go-to, all-purpose salad to keep in the rotation all winter long. It can play side dish or main course — you decide what's best for you. It's simple enough to partner with just about anything penned into your meal plan for tonight's dinner, and filling enough on its own as a light lunch. I love to bulk it up with a simply seared piece of white fish or baked salmon fillet, although you can also top it with a chicken breast or even a few strips of steak and call it dinner.

Grapefruit and Avocado Winter Salad

Serves 4

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 medium pink grapefruits
2 firm, ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 small fennel bulb, halved and thinly sliced
2 ounces arugula

Place the vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and whisk until well-combined; set aside.

Segment the grapefruits: Working with one grapefruit at a time, slice off the ends of the fruit. Set on a flat work surface. Use a sharp knife to cut the peel and white pith, following the curve of the grapefruit, from top to bottom. Cut between the membranes to remove the segments of the fruit and add them to the bowl of dressing. Repeat with the remaining grapefruit.

Add the avocados, fennel, and arugula to the bowl and toss to evenly coat.