An incredibly easy and delicious winter salad can be assembled in a couple of minutes by peeling and breaking into segments two or three good Clementines/Mandarins (Satsumas are good only at the beginning of their season, so that means before the New Year, but many California growers are now bringing to market superb oranges of the Clementine/Mandarin type. My favorite vendor is Olsen, who sells at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market. But don’t take my word for it: Google ‘olsen clementine’ and take a gander at the rave reviews.
To the Clementine segments add an equal number of avocado chunks of similar size. There are three varieties of avocados that i recommend: Hass (often misspelled Haas), Gwen, and Reed. The others i’ve tasted have been poor seconds. At best.
Sprinkle on top of the fruit a reasonable quantity of balsamic vinegar, but don’t pour it on liberally. Then shake on a modest amount of salt and stir well. If there’s leftover vinegar at the bottom of the bowl, you’ve used too much. You don’t want to waste the stuff but rather get just enough in to lightly nap the orange segments and avocado chunks.
Eat with joy at the explosion of flavors.