Christmas Week Surf & Turf and Winter Citrus Salad

We spent Christmas eve with good friends, and cooked an incredible dinner together. The boys seared fresh tuna while us girls made a huge salad with grilled steak in a raspberry vinaigrette and homemade focaccia. Surf and turf for Christmas! Though not exactly traditional, it was local and seasonal, and seriously delicious. It’s also super easy to make, and pretty, which is always a big plus in my book.

One of our sweet farmer neighbors gifted me that morning with an armful of heads of lettuce, deep green spinach and a potted basil plant from his garden that he insisted on carrying for me, though he is upwards of 90 years old. I won’t lie. I had a tear or two in my eye from how precious he is. The huge salad we had Christmas eve, and nearly every night since, is thanks to him!

This salad is so good we’ve already made it a couple times this week with grilled steak, grilled shrimpies and vegetarian. It’s loaded with seasonal citrus — oranges, pomegranate seeds, pink pomelos, apples, red onion, and avocados.

It’s mikan {tangerine} and orange season right now on Okinawa but please feel free to substitute whatever ingredients are local and seasonal to your own area!

Winter Citrus Salad {Vegetarian, Shrimp or Steak}
serves 4

1 head of cabbage or crunchy lettuce
1-2 C deep green lettuce like spinach
3 oz gorgonzola
1 pomelo or grapefruit
1 orange
1 apple
1/2 pomegranate
1 small red onion
1 avocado
Your favorite vinaigrette or add 1/2 C crushed fresh raspberries to Apple Cider Vinaigrette 

For the Meat or Shrimp:
2 steaks, preferably free range
1/2 lb. shrimp
1 lemon
olive oil
salt & pepper
fresh rosemary sprigs

Chop the lettuce and citrus and peeled avocado. If you use a pomelo, cut off the white flesh so that only the fruit remains.  Remove the seeds from the pomegranate and also let the juice spill onto the salad. Break apart the gorgonzola and add as well. Use your favorite vinaigrette, or crush about 1/2 C of fresh raspberries in a blender or food processor and add to the apple cider vinaigrette. Shake {lidded mason jars are wonderful to use for dressings} until it’s fully incorporated and toss it with the salad just before you add the meat or shrimp, if you are using any. It’s delicious as a vegetarian salad, and great for a post-holiday detox.

Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle about a tablespoon of salt and pepper on the steak. Once your grill is hot enough, cook on each side for a few minutes, until it’s done to your liking. Cut into bite size pieces and immediately place atop the salad. Serve right away.

Drizzle olive oil on the rinsed shrimp. Squeeze a lemon’s worth of juice on top and leave the lemon halves with the shrimp. Break off fresh rosemary leaves and place those, as well as a few sprigs, with the shrimp. Sprinkle on sea salt. Shrimp is wonderful when it’s made with only a few fresh ingredients on the grill. Simple is a good thing! Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the tails are a bright red and the flesh is pink. Transfer immediately to the salad and serve right away.