Nutmeg Free Avocado Citrus Salad with Basil-Herb Dressing
Bright, creamy, and bursting with citrus, this salad is the kind of dish that makes you feel like you're eating at a sun-drenched café somewhere wonderful. Sliced avocado and freshly segmented oranges and grapefruit are layered over tender mixed greens, then finished with a vivid basil-herb dressing that comes together in a blender in under a minute. That dressing — built from packed fresh basil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, and a whisper of ground ginger — is genuinely the star, delivering herby brightness without any of the warm, sharp spice notes that nutmeg would bring. For anyone avoiding that particular spice, salad dressings and composed salads can still be a minefield when store-bought or restaurant-made, since nutmeg sneaks into all kinds of unexpected vinaigrettes and spice blends. Here, every ingredient is straightforward and easy to verify, so you can dress and serve with total confidence. The thinly sliced red onion adds just enough bite to balance the richness of the avocado, and a pinch of flaky sea salt at the end pulls everything together beautifully. Serve it immediately while the greens are fresh and the dressing is still that gorgeous, electric green.
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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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