Mediterranean Diet Friendly Avocado Citrus Salad with Basil-Herb Dressing
This vibrant salad is everything a warm-weather table needs — creamy avocado, juicy orange and grapefruit segments, and peppery greens all brought together by a blender dressing that's shockingly good for how little effort it takes. The basil-herb dressing is the real star here: two cups of fresh basil and a handful of parsley get blitzed with garlic, lemon juice, and a stream of extra-virgin olive oil until the whole thing turns silky and brilliantly green. That generous use of olive oil and fresh herbs is exactly the kind of fat-forward, plant-rich approach that makes this style of eating so satisfying and sustainable. Citrus segmenting sounds fussy, but once you get the hang of slicing between the membranes, you end up with jewel-like pieces that look stunning against the sliced avocado and tender greens. The thin-sliced red onion adds just enough bite to keep every forkful interesting. Everything here — the produce, the olive oil, the lemon — is whole and unprocessed, so there's no label-reading required and no hidden ingredients to second-guess. Serve it immediately after dressing so the greens stay perky and the avocado holds its color.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the basil-herb dressing
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ⅛ tsp ground ginger
For the salad
- 5 oz mixed tender greens (such as arugula, spinach, or butter lettuce)
- 2 ripe avocados, halved, pitted, and sliced
- 2 navel oranges, peeled and segmented
- 1 grapefruit, peeled and segmented
- ¼ small red onion, very thinly sliced
- flaky sea salt, to taste
For serving
- fresh basil leaves, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Make the dressing: combine the basil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, sea salt, and ground ginger in a blender or food processor. Pulse 4–5 times until the herbs are roughly chopped. With the motor running on low, stream in the olive oil until the dressing is smooth and bright green, about 30 seconds. Taste and adjust salt if needed.
- 2
Segment the citrus: working over a bowl to catch the juice, cut away the peel and white pith from the oranges and grapefruit. Slice between the membranes to release each segment. Discard the membranes.
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