Melissas Produce

Simple Sides: A Spring Citrus Salad

Competing schedules in the day-to-day lives of a busy modern family make it difficult to share a home-cooked meal together, but not impossible. In fact, with a little planning, cooking together can become a fun family event and learning opportunity. This feature will focus on providing a child or a group of children, working together under the supervision of an adult, with one uncomplicated, healthy and delicious side dish recipe. The dishes will be centered on fresh seasonal produce items; the recipes will always contain tasks that will allow even the youngest kitchen helper to contribute to the family meal. Parents should always read through each recipe carefully to judge the division of labor based on age and ability as well as to identify where adult attention might be especially needed.

Many of the recipes presented here will seem very basic -- this is by design. It is hoped that these simple preparations will provide the culinary foundation and confidence to inspire kids to try more challenging recipes as their kitchen experience develops. Melissa’s encourages parents to find the time to gather as a family unit at least once a week for a dinner that everyone pitches in to prepare. It’s a wonderful way to teach a child basic culinary skills, and, more importantly, cooking with your children will build memories in all your hearts forever.

Here’s a very simple fruit salad for beginners that combines the last of this season’s Pixie Tangerine crop with a Pink Grapefruit, a pinch of basil, all enhanced with a basic lime vinaigrette. Best of all, even the youngest kitchen helpers, who know their measures, can accomplish most of the steps in this short recipe. With no hot stovetop or oven required and just a very rudimentary slicing in half of the grapefruit segments, this dish is also the perfect opportunity to introduce a child to their first knife experience under very close supervision. A culinary rite of passage for both parent and young helper!

The short ingredient list is really two recipes – the mix of citrus and the light vinaigrette that supports this mix. The vinaigrette is versatile enough to be used on other fruit and/or Greenleaf combinations. However, those are recipes best attempted by the novice after some practice learning the basics. Basic or not, the recipe also needs to hold the imagination of a young helper whose attention span can be shorter than this ingredient list. That’s where the colors and tasty reputation of the Pixie come in; your helpers cannot help but smile at this small but mighty tasting fruit.

I have shared this in other blogs on this site, but it bears repeating. I have witnessed seasoned fresh produce professionals do double and triple takes at industry food shows over the flavor of the Ojai Pixie tangerine. It is always the same – the surprised party grabs one of these mini tangerines, walks away peeling, samples the goods, stops in his or her tracks, then turns around when the flavor hits the palette with a “what was that?” look and backtracks to inquire. While there are other crops of Pixies grown in other growing regions of California, none come close to the Ojai crop. The unique combination of weather, water, and soil results in an equally unique flavor profile that is not easy to describe and needs to be experienced. On the other hand, once the Pixie is tasted, no other tangerine will satisfy. Besides, for the recipe below, the Pixie is perfect for small hands. Enjoy!

Citrus Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients

Vinaigrette:
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS lime juice
1 TBS Agave
Salt to taste

Salad mix:
2 cups fresh ruby red grapefruit segments, halved
2 cups of Pixie Tangerine segments
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, thin sliced

Preparation
What the supervising adults should do:
Oversee the careful peeling, segmenting, and halving of the citrus as well as the thin-slicing of the basil leaves with a pair of kitchen scissors.

What the Kids can do: