Persimmon, Citrus Salad with Basil and Arugula

This salad was divine. Am I overselling it? I do not think so. There were so many different flavors and textures that perfectly complimented each other without overwhelming each other. Like the perfect citrus-y, peppery, crunchy, juicy relationship. You may not want peppery and crunchy in a life partner, but you certainly want it in a salad. Persimmons are in season. And that is how this whole dish started. I grabbed persimmons, brought them home and then thought, "Huh, what do I want to do with these?". Well it is summer, and I love a good summer salad. Peaches, watermelon, citrus and herbs all conjure up mouthwatering summer salads I had just done a beautiful Watermelon, Feta, Mint and Pistachio Salad, so lets do citrus this time! And any time I can double down with flavor and presentation, I am a happy girl. The bright and vibrant beets (oven roasted beets go with everything, in case you were wondering), glistening orange and grapefruit and dynamic persimmons are set of with bright green basil and arugula. The flavors of this salad are so perfect that all you need is a simple drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some vinegar to dress it.

I also demo the best way to cut citrus fruit. So now not only do you have a go to recipe, you also have a new skill. You're welcome. I know I say that a lot in my blog posts. But hey, you're welcome, even if you didn't have enough manners to say thank you in the first place. :)

Serves 4-5

Ingredients/Instructions:

4 beets

4 grapefruit

4 oranges

4 persimmons

1 package baby arugula

1 package (3/4 oz) or 3 long stems basil (I grabbed mine from my herb garden)

4-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided

3-4 tbsp fruit balsamic vinegar (you can use plain too, I used pear balsamic, raspberry balsamic is also nice), divided

salt

pepper

1. You will want to get your beets roasting first, since they are the only thing that really needs to cook.,

2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

3. Peel your beets.

4. Cut each beet into 6-8 wedges, depending on its size. Halve the beet. Then take each half and either quarter it or cut it into thirds. (You can refer to the image below for a visual.)

5. Transfer the wedges to a silicone baking mat on top of a baking sheet and drizzle with roughly 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

6. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

7. While your beets are roasting in the oven, go ahead and remove the fruit segments from the grapefruit and the oranges.

8.Begin by slicing the top and the bottom off of the fruit.

9. Then continue to remove the rind by slicing off the sides.

10. Once you have done that, get as close as you can to the membrane that divides the pulpy fruit and cut in towards the center.

11. Go to the other side of the same wedge and repeat the process. Continue to do this for every wedge of fruit.

12. Your end product should look something like this. Follow the same steps for the grapefruit and the oranges.

13. Now cut the persimmons into wedges as well. You do not have to cut them into wedges, but I wanted all the shapes to be similar, so I did. :) Remove the tops and the bottoms from the persimmons before cutting into wedges, You may also come across some seeds, just cut them out and discard them.