I've been craving grapefruit of all things...

What a strange thing to crave, grapefruit...  It's not even in my top ten favorite fruits.  But, I've thought about buying one for a couple of weeks now.  Saturday, I tossed one in the shopping cart.  Then, I realized I'd read a recipe in Cat Cora's new cookbook that called for grapefruit and jicama.  So, we tracked down one of the most homely roots around - jicama - and tossed that in the cart.  Sunday was cat food prep day.  I was busy processing three months worth of cat food about the time it was time to fix dinner.  Connie was a sweetheart and pitched in.  He's a great sous chef :-)  We'd both tried jicama before and found it very blah.  Once it was combined with the grapefruit, though, it was perfect in the dish.  This salad was very refreshing.  We served it with bbq chicken (actually bbq sauce with blue cheese melted in) and roasted rosemary potatoes.  We've now tried two of Cat's recipes and have loved both of them.  I think I'm going to be cooking my way through this cookbook!

Grapefruit Jicama Salad with Pistachios and Asian Lime Vinaigrette

Salad:
1 large grapefruit, peeled and segmented
1 c shredded jicama
1/4 c shredded carrot
2 T cilantro leaves
1 T pistachios, toasted and crushed (we used a mortar and pestle)

Dressing:
one dried jalapeno (or one fresh, very finely minced)
1 garlic clove, very finely minced
1 T dark brown sugar
3 T lime juice (about 2 medium limes)
1 1/2 T Asian fish sauce

Toss all of the salad ingredients in a bowl, reserving 1 T of the cilantro leaves and the pistachios for a garnish.

Mix the dressing ingredients together.

Adapted from Cat Cora's Classics with a Twist




Let the dressing sit for a few minutes to allow the jalapenos to reconstitute.  Toss enough dressing with the salad to lightly coat the grapefruit.  Sprinkle with the pistachios and reserved cilantro leaves.