This citrus kale salad with avocado and jicama is a deeply nutritious winter recipe that’s fast and incredibly easy. It’s a sweet and tart, crunchy and creamy vegan winter salad that’s packed with cold-and-flu-fighting Vitamin C. Healthy, delicious and gorgeous? Coming right up!
Citrus. Tis. The Season. Y’all.
Honestly, the only thing that makes winter worth it in my book is the arrival of oranges, clementines, meyer lemons, and all of the other delightful citrus varietals overflowing the co-op stalls. They might not be locally sourced, but they are super seasonal and damn delicious.
I add clementines and minneolas to our lunch boxes on the daily, and I’d be hard-pressed to let a week go by without tossing together a quick and easy salad, like this kale citrus salad with avocado and jicama. This salad is bright and colorful, packed with intense flavor, and deeply nutritious.
I must admit that it took me a long time to learn how to enjoy more bitter citrus fruits, like grapefruit and blood oranges. There’s a little trick I stumbled upon that’s a total game changer and I guarantee you have it in your pantry – salt. Ah, salt – the unrivaled flavor enhancer and equalizer. And obviously my favorite seasoning agent.
Have you ever had preserved lemons? They’re only slightly tart, intensely lemony and even a bit sweet. Over time, the salt breaks down the extreme bitter and sour notes, and brings out the essence of the lemon flavor. We’re using the same science on these salted fresh citrus slices.
Salting grapefruit, blood oranges, and other sharp citrus fruits cuts right through the bitter, sour profile and reveals the sweet notes hiding underneath. You can eat them on their own, but they are best paired with some contrasting flavors like creamy avocado and savory jicama.
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How to Make Whole30 Kale Citrus Salad
Grab a few pieces of citrus and let’s get started. I used one large grapefruit, one blood orange, and 1 cara cara orange.
Using a sharp knife, slice off the top and bottom. Stand the fruit upright on your cutting board, and slice off the skin and pith from top to bottom.
Work in with steady, even strokes, and cut away the skin bit by bit. If you cut your slices too large, you’ll remove too much flesh. Once you’ve removed the skin and pith, lay the orange on it’s side and slice it into quarter-to-half-inch slices through the center.
Hey there beautiful jewel tones.
Once you’ve sliced all of your fruit, lay it out in a single layer on your cutting board then sprinkle with about a teaspoon of kosher or sea salt. Set it aside and let the salt work its way into the flesh for about 15 or 20 minutes. Just enough time to prepare the rest of your salad.
Now let’s get our jicama on. If you’re thinking “WTF is jicama?” you’re not alone. Jicama is a tuber, sort of like a turnip, but you eat it raw. I recently saw it described as a savory apple, and that’s the most perfect descriptor I’ve ever encountered.
Jicama is super crunchy, a little bit sweet, and a little bit nutty. I love it in salads and slaws, and as crudite for dips and spreads. Jicama packs a healthy Vitamin C punch, so when paired with citrus they’re a cold-and-flu-season fighting superteam.
For this citrus kale salad, jicama gives it both a new texture and a satisfying crunch. Think of it like a savory, winter version of cucumber. I used half a medium jicama (about a cup to a cup and a half), and julienned it using my mandoline.
Toss the jicama and the baby kale with a sweet and tangy citrus vinaigrette, and you’re ready to serve this bright, nutritious winter salad.
Both the kale base and citrus sliced keep on their own in sealed containers in the fridge for about 24 hours, so feel free to nosh on half the first day, and the other half the second.
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Citrus Kale Salad with Avocado and Jicama
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- Paring Knife
Ingredients
Citrus Kale Salad
- 1 grapefruit, skin and pith removed, thinly sliced to ½"
- 1 blood orange
- 1 cara cara orange
- 1 tsp sea or kosher salt
- ½ medium jicama, julienned
- 5 oz baby kale
- ½ c chopped parsley
- 1 avocado sliced
Citrus Vinaigrette
- 1 cara cara orange, juiced and zested
- 1 tbsp champagne vinaigrette
- ½ tsp sea or kosher salt
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- ½ c unfiltered extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Slice the tops and bottoms from the grapefruit and oranges. Using a paring knife, cut away the skin, including the pith, from the citrus to reveal the flesh. Place the citrus on it’s side, and working from the top (or bottom) end, cut thin slices. Lay the citrus slices in a single row on your cutting board or another flat surface and sprinkle with salt. Set aside to allow the salt to work into the citrus while you prepare the rest of the salad, about 15-20 minutes.
- Prepare the vinaigrette. Zest the orange, then slice in half and juice into a small bowl. To the bowl, add the champagne vinegar, salt, and pepper. Whisk until combined. Slowly pour in the olive oil and whisk until emulsified.
- Using your paring knife, peel the jicama and slice in half. Set one half aside for another purpose. Slice the other half into quarters, and then julienne using a sharp knife or mandoline slicer.
- In a salad bowl, add the baby kale, jicama, parsley, and half the vinaigrette, then toss to combine. Transfer the dressed salad to a platter, or divide between four plates. Top the salad with the salted citrus slices and sliced avocado. Serve with additional dressing to taste. Serve immediately. The salad base and oranges can be stored separately in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 24 hours.
Nutrition Information
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Jean
I’ve been loving all the citrus I’ve been seeing at the farmers market recently. This salad is such a great way to use those up and looks so so gorgeous!
Danielle
I wish I was south enough to get super fresh citrus! So jealous. But our co-op market does a really good job.
Renee Kohley
I don’t grab those jicmas often enough! This looks great – the oranges are gorgeous!
Danielle
I go in waves with jicama – some weeks I’ll toss it into everything, and then I’ll forget about it for like…a month. But I’m always glad when I remember to pick some up.
Joni Gomes
Loooving these colors! Looks so fresh!
Danielle
Thank you Joni!
Tessa Simpson
gorgeous salad celebrating winter goodies!! This looks so delicious and vibrant, thanks for sharing the recipe with us!
Danielle
You’re welcome! thank you for your sweet comment 🙂
Yang
This salad is so lovely! I adore the beautiful citrus in salads. And that jicama and kale are just in season in the cold time of the year. A great winter salad!
linda spiker
Citrus is so wonderful! I live in California so I am spoiled, but my guess is citrus is a big part of making winter bearable in the colder states!
Danielle
I’m so jealous! My son asked me if we could go orange picking, and I was like “oh honey, I wish!”. One year I’d like to make it to CA or FL during prime citrus season. It’d be such a treat!
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish
Wow this sounds delicious! So vibrant and refreshing. Love all of the flavors and textures in this too, that’s totally my kind of salad.
Danielle
Thank you Emily!
Lindsey Dietz
The color of those citrus fruits is amazing. My son would adore this salad because citrus fruits are his favorite!
Danielle
My son too (well, next to apples). He *did* eat all of the citrus…and left the greens behind. Sigh…lol. We’ll get him there eventually.
Megan Stevens
Well this is lovely. I can already hear the crowds (family) roar with delight. Your julienned jicama is so sweet tossed with lettuce, before the pretty topping, totally inspired!
Danielle
Thank you Megan 🙂
Monique
What a gorgeous, bright fresh salad! I adore citrus in salad. And your images – I can’t stop admiring them! Absolutely beautiful.
Danielle
Thanks so much Monique!
Carrie | Clean Eating Kitchen
What a pretty salad! That citrus is perfect this time of year to keep fighting all of those germs!
Danielle
EXACTLY. I have one in daycare still and he’s toxic 😛 Getting all the Vitamin C I can right now!
Mira Richard-Fioramore
We have different kinds of citrus fruit in Japan all with different colours and flavours! This salad will be amazing with them!
Leslie-Anne
This is gorgeous! I love citrus, avocado, jicama and kale so this is basically perfection. I’d love to serve this at a girls brunch – it’s so bright and lovely in the middle of the winter.