October 18, 2015
Last week had me in a major funk and facing a ton of self-doubt. I was deep into my pity party when Justine dragged me to a Jenny Schatzle workout. Jenny has Santa Barbara celebrity status with her cult-like fitness following. I will own up to a couple of eye rolls in her converts direction.
One workout was all it took to win me over and quit the pity party. That first workout quickly morphed into five. These timeouts sweating with a roomful of people has become the highlight of my day. Hey, at least when I throw up my arms in defeat, they’re much more toned.
I came home starving post-workout and as I reached for my usual quick grab of cold pizza squirted with Sriracha, I heard the voice of Jenny. She doubles as a motivational speaker – nice, right? Even though there are forty people in the room at any given time, I always feel like she’s speaking directly to me. I kept thinking of her charge to put good things in our body post workout. Out when the leftover pizza and instead I created this salad that I’ve made over and over again because it tastes so damn good.
The bright, explosive flavor of the grapefruit matched with buttery, mellow avocado and the salty-sweetness of the pistachios makes this delicious and satisfying. Especially when making something so simple and fresh, ingredients really matter — seek out the best produce you can find to get the best taste. Hey salad also covers the spectrum of diet buzzwords– it’s gluten-free, paleo, vegan….
Not to fret, pizza will remain in the rotation, just not as often.
Feeds two for a lunch salad or side salad for four
Note: Make sure your pistachios are shelled. Thank you, TJ’s for the bags of pre roasted and shelled pistachios.
1 pink grapefruit
1 avocado, sliced
1/4 cup toasted pistachios
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1 medium-size fennel, sliced thinly
A few tender leaves of baby kale (this is about the only thing growing in my garden these days)
Sea salt
Top shelf olive oil
Supreme the grapefruit (here’s how to do it) and reserve the remaining fruit (it’s mainly juice and pith at this point) to use as part of the dressing.
Cut the fennel in half and slice thinly with a mandolin or good knife skills. Remember to remove the heart of the fennel first as it can be very tough. Lay the fennel on a platter — I would go with a white plate, it really shows off the colors and textures best. Next, add the citrus segments. Place the avocado on top of the citrus, follow with pistachios, pomegranate seeds and add a few torn-up leaves of the kale over the mix. Squeeze the remaining grapefruit over the whole salad, drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil and finish with a good pinch or two of sea salt.
