3 Ingredient Salads

Perhaps this will be an ongoing theme. As I said before, I'm not into fussy preparation. So for me, something that has under five ingredients is just what I'm looking for. And this summer, I have been enjoy two simply awesome three ingredient salads.
The three ingredients here are as follows for both salads: one fruit, one vegetable, and one liquid.
Both salads rely on really great produce, since there's barely any preparation done. I suggest only buying local, organic ingredients that are in season for these salads, because trust me, it makes all the difference.
The first salad I learned from a great cook and friend of mine, Michael Sieverts.


It involves avocado, grapefruit, and olive oil. A simple vinaigrette is just a mix of an acid like vinegar or citrus juice and an oil like olive oil or nut oils. Here, the vinaigrette is created with the juice of the grapefruit mingling with the olive oil. For both salads, a little time for them to sit and gather flavor is beneficial.

The grapefruit, as you can see in this awful, grainy photo, is not red, or even pink. Grapefruits of the reddish hue are much sweeter than their relatives the yellow grapefruits. In this salad, the yellow grapefruit will lend a nice bitterness to accent the creaminess of the avocado. All the same, this will be delicious with a red grapefruit too, if you so choose.

The next salad is a mango cucumber salad. Now, hold back your doubts. It's so freakin' good! This has mangoes, cucumbers (duh), and ume plum vinegar to give it a little kick. Ume plum vinegar can be hard to find, but it is perfect for this salad. It is very salty but still light and makes your mouth pucker just a bit. If you cannot find it, other vinegars with a hearty dose of salty will be fine too. I recommend either a red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. The cucumbers will be best peeled, and the mangoes will be best indian, as that is less fibrous than haitian. Though really, it all works. Just chop it up, throw it together, and nosh.

Cucumber Mango Salad
serves 6. under 10 mins
adapted from Elana's Pantry

1 mango
2 cucumbers
1 tbsp. Ume Plum Vinegar OR 2 tbsp. apple cider/red wine vinegar+salt
mint sprigs (optional)

Peel and cube the mango and cucumbers and toss with vinegar.
Garnish with mint if you want it to look pretty like my picture.
Serve.

Avocado Grapefruit Salad
serves 6. under 10 mins


1 grapefruit
1-2 avocados (depending on how large the grapefruit is and how much avocado you like)
2 tbsp. olive oil

Peel grapefruit and cut each section in half. Slice the avocado and toss together with oil.
Serve.