Chicagoist Salutes National Vegan Month: Stephanie Izard's Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Nov 18, 2008 3:42PM

We hope you've gotten a chance to read our follow-up interview with Stephanie Izard from Friday (Karl has a "Chicagoist Re-Grills" with Dale Levitski we're posting in a bit). Among the many items we asked of Izard was for a recipe for National Vegan Month.

Izard came through like a champ with a simple salad recipe using seasonal ingredients, and also asked us to inform readers that her new website should be up and running any day now; Izard also has a blog that she updates when she can. The recipe follows.

Avocado, Endive and Apple Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette

1 avocado
Juice of ½ lemon
2 heads endive, core removed and thinly sliced
1 apple, julienne
2 radishes, thinly shaved
1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
1 t Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Cut avocado in half and remove seed. With a spoon, scoop out of skin. Thinly slice and fan onto four plates. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with lemon juice. Toss together the other ingredients with the olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Place artfully over avocado on plates. Drizzle with grapefruit vinaigrette and serve.

Grapefruit Vinaigrette

1 ruby red grapefruit
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 tsp honey
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp thinly sliced basil

Remove skin and pith from grapefruit. Over bowl, cut out segments and squeeze additional juice. Reserving juice, remove segments and cut into smaller pieces. Whisk honey and olive oil into juice, add back in segments and season to taste.