Grapefruit Avocado Salad
It is commonly said that the average American gains a few pounds or more during the holiday season (Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day). However, there’s not much data to support this statement, and one study showed only 0.37 kg (0.81 lb) weight gain over the holiday season.
If you gained a lot more than that, that’s okay. New Year is a great time to start changing your eating habit. Avoid any extreme diets because even if you lose weight rapidly, you’ll likely gain it back once you go back to your regular diet. Instead, try to gradually change your habits to a healthier one, and aim for slow but sustainable weight loss.
Increasing your vegetable intake is a great way to eat healthier and have better control of your weight. Eating veggies doesn’t mean that you have to eat boring salad (lettuce + cucumber + tomatoes) everyday. Be creative and enjoy different flavors and textures in your salad - using fruits will add some sweetness and using seeds/nuts will add some crunch.
Here is a recipe for our Grapefruit Avocado Salad.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 ruby grapefruit
• 4 banana shallots (or 2 small red onions)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt + some extra to massage the shallots
• Handful of salad leaves
• 2 precooked (boiled or roasted) beetroots
• 1 avocado
• 1 small can of butter beans
• Thyme (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Supreme ruby grapefruit- save any juice you get while supreming.
2. Thinly slice banana shallots (or red onions), massage it with salt, and put it in a bowl. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and any juice from the grapefruit. Set aside while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
3. Rinse and dry the salad leaves. Cut beetroots into 8 pieces. Slice avocado. Drain the canned butter beans.
4. On a large plate, start layering the salad leaves, butter beans, beetroots, avocado and grapefruit. Top it with the shallot dressing that you made and sprinkle with thyme.
REFERENCES:
1. Yanovski JA, Yanovski SZ, Sovik KN, Nguyen TT, O'Neil PM, and Sebring NG. A prospective study of holiday weight gain. N Engl J Med. 2000 Mar 23;342(12):861-7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4336296/