The First Salad of the Season

By Lori Powell

The fresh air of spring has arrived and with it are thoughts of bathing suits, the ocean, vacations, spring cleaning and fresh produce. With the advent of fresh produce comes inspiration for lovely salads for dinner and for lunch, hopefully resulting in a couple of pounds and inches off my frame.

My first salad of the season is a pickled shrimp and red onion concoction with cucumber. You make a simple pickling liquid which uses seasoned rice vinegar, agave, star anise and a pinch of heat from red pepper flakes. The star anise is optional but adds nice dimension to the pickling liquid.

Star anise can be found in the spice section of the supermarket. This spice is shaped like a star about one inch in diameter and has eight dark-brown spokes. It is grown in China and Japan, similar to licorice and anise, and is one of the spices in five-spice powder.

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Fun with Grapefruit

By Lori Powell

Grapefruit or Pomelo?

Well, the real difference is in the size of the fruit and the taste. The pomelo is the largest of the citrus fruits. It comes from Asia and is milder and sweeter than the grapefruit. It also has a much thicker rind than the grapefruit with a pale yellow flesh as opposed to a Ruby Red grapefruit that has a bright pink interior.

Pomelos are great for segmenting and eating just as it is but I do prefer the sprightly acidic flavor of grapefruit, especially the Ruby Red variety that is not only pretty to look at, but I believe is slightly sweeter than the regular kind. Ruby Red or regular grapefruit works well in both sweet and savory dishes.

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