It’s that time of year again.  The holidays have passed, the skies are gray, the air is cold, and the days seem long, even though they’re short.  It’s right about now that I start dreaming of spring.  Inevitably, I turn to citrus.  Juicy oranges and grapefruit are just what the doctor ordered for this time of year – vibrant both in flavor and in color, they are at their best when we need them most!

Last weekend, I was asked to make a fruit salad for a brunch and I had only to look at the oranges and grapefruits filling my fruit bowl for inspiration.  A little web searching later and I stumbled upon a recipe on myrecipes.com for winter fruit salad, which I’ve adapted slightly here.  I’ll confess, it’s a little time-consuming.  The recipe requires you to supreme the oranges and grapefruits, but it’s well worth it in my humble opinion.  There’s something utterly decadent about eating those perfect sections of fruit without worrying about seeds or pith or membranes.  You can just sit back, relax, and enjoy.

To supreme the oranges and grapefruits, first cut off the tops and bottoms.

Using a paring knife, cut the peel off the fruit.

Cut between the membranes to release the sections of fruit. When you’re done, your fruit should look like this:

And your sections should look like this:

Winter Citrus Salad
Serves 8

4 Ruby Red Grapefruits
6 Navel Oranges
4 Kiwi
1/2 a Pomegranate
1 tsp grated ginger (grated using a microplane grater)

1. Supreme the oranges and grapefruit as described above and put into a bowl.
2. Use the same technique to cut the skin off the kiwi, then cut the kiwi lengthwise and slice into 1/2 circles. Add the kiwi to the bowl.
3. Cut the pomegranate into quarters, then remove the seeds from two quarters. Set aside in a separate bowl.
4. Drain the juice from the bowl of sectioned fruit (there will be a lot) into a glass and set aside.
5. Combine the grated ginger with a 1/4 cup of the reserved juice, and incorporate using a fork.
6. Drizzle the ginger and juice mixture over the fruit salad. Chill the salad for a couple of hours before serving.
7. Just before serving, sprinkle the pomegranate seeds over the salad.

Note: So far, the fruit I’ve used has been plenty sweet and I haven’t had to add any sweetener. If your fruit isn’t quite as sweet, feel free to add some sugar.