Avocado Apple Salad with Orange Juice Vinaigrette

The holy day of Yom Kippur has come and gone and we now approach with lightning speed the holiday of Succot. I’m feeling calmer than usual since we built our Succah already and now are talking (yet again, uhuh) food. It’s all good, it’s a celebration and one of my fave holidays. We get to sit in the Succah and mostly chill out (even if it’s warm here in Israel 😉 ) and it’s avocado season now so when you can snag a really ripe one (they are a tricky thing avocados, I’ve actually cut one open to find only half fully ripe, what ya gonna do) this salad is just lovely and perfect for the fall season even if it feels like summer. The orange vinaigrette is a particular favorite of mine and it does beautifully on salad greens as well as this combo so be sure to add it to your repertoire of dressings.

Gather your ingredients.

Using a sharp peeler, peel the apple and the avocados. Then cut them into more or less same sized chunks.

In a bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients, the orange juice, oil, mustard, honey OR silan OR maple syrup (you are choosing whichever sweetener you prefer, each works here but gives a subtly different flavor) and vinegar with salt and pepper to taste. Here I will say that I prefer balsamic vinegar as its flavor has some sweetness and adds that extra wonderful note. K. Whisk, whisk whisk till emulsified and a dressing is formed.

Pour about a third of the dressing over the avocados and apples (you can double or even quadruple the amount of avocados and apples. If you quadruple you will need all the dressing). Toss to coat thoroughly. Now here’s a nice thing about this dressing. It prevents the apples and avocados from turning brown/black. I’ve even kept them in the dressing overnight, not just a coupla hours in it and it somewhat absorbs the flavors deliciously and still stays nice in color! Eureka!

Avocado Apple Salad with Orange Juice Vinaigrette

The vinaigrette is enough for quadruple the amount of avocado and apples it is also excellent on a lettuce salad so it pays to make the entire amount

Vinaigrette:

1/3 cup (78 ml) orange juice

1/4 cup (59 ml) oil – I prefer vegetable oil, not olive oil since it overpowers the flavor

1 tablespoon Dijon or brown mustard

1 tablespoon honey or Silan (date honey) or maple syrup

1 tablespoon vinegar, preferably balsamic

Salt and pepper to taste

2 avocados (I used a small amount for 2 people, you can double even quadruple the amount)

1 apple

Peel the avocados and the apple. Cut both into chunks. In the same bowl for the salad, whisk together the orange juice, oil, mustard,honey or other sweetener, vinegar and salt and pepper till emulsified. Pour off any extra dressing into a jar or container. Place the avocado and apple in the remaining dressing and toss to coat. This can sit refrigerated for a few hours (I’ve even done it overnight!) without the apples and avocados going brown/black on you. A lovely and refreshing salad.