Citrus, Fig, and Walnut Salad

I came up with this citrus, fig, and walnut salad for a television appearance on Atlanta Plugged In this week.  I was presenting a Paleo breakfast, lunch and dinner while trying to make Paleo accessible and focus on the commonalities between Paleo and the other leading healthy diets (there’s far more in common than there are differences).

You can actually watch my appearance here:

I wanted the food to just plain’ ol look delicious, but also like normal food that anyone could make at home and that didn’t seem weird or bland.  It was also really important to me to be able to say that the 1800 calories worth of food these three meals presented also met 100% of the RDA of every single essential vitamin and mineral.  I got onto my nutrient database and started playing with servings of fruits and veggies to round out the vitamin and mineral intakes after figuring out what the proteins would be.  What didn’t seem to fit into the omelet and side of fruit for breakfast or the steak with four simple veggie sides for dinner got dumped into this salad served with salmon for lunch.

I had a sense that this salad would be tasty, knowing that I’m particularly fond of the combination of peppery greens, sweet and tangy fruit, nuts and balsamic vinaigrette.  But, when I tasted this combination, I realized just how serendipitous it was.  This is quite simply one of the best salads I’ve ever made, and it felt selfish not to photograph it and share it all with you.  What started as an exercise in nutrient-density became an amazing combination of flavors, celebrating the winter season.

To make this salad autoimmune protocol-friendly, simply omit the walnuts.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: noneServings: 1-2

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups arugula
• 2 cups kale (tear into bite size pieces and discard stems or use baby kale)
• 3 Tbsp thinly sliced red onion
• 1 large orange (I used blood orange), segmented (see this How To)
• 4 kumquats (if you can’t find them, double the orange), thinly sliced (discard seeds but leave peel on)
• 3 dried figs, cut into 1/2″ pieces
• 1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted and dived into 1/2 – 3/4″ pieces
• 1/2 cup walnut halves or large pieces

Directions:

1. Mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar together in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Gently toss remaining ingredients.
3. Drizzle dressing over the top!