Caramelized Onion and Grapefruit Salad

Meet my friend the evil grapefruit. This little guy decided to squirt me in the eye last night. Not once, but twice.

Right into my contact wearing peeper.

Jerk.

I wish I could say that was the most painful part about Wes meeting my parents last night.

Unfortunately I can’t.

Everything was going pretty peachy until we decided to discuss the origin of The Three Month Rule.

I distinctly remember the story as I told it yesterday, but my mother wasn’t convinced that snow cone boy was the reason for the rule.

We were going through the many gentleman callers I’ve had in the last decade to try and figure out the actual root of the rule.

Ben? No.

Adam number one? How about Adam number two? No.

Roddy, Elijah or Tom? Nope.

And then the bomb drops.

The comment heard round the kitchen. Straight from Wesley’s mouth to my father’s ears.

“Well, with the revolving door of men, no wonder there is a three month rule.”

Wow. Things got really awkward.

Dad was not happy. Being the amazing father he is he immediately went to my defense. I pretty much blocked out the conversation that followed, but I do know it was uncomfortable.

And that’s how quickly a great meeting can go downhill.

Open mouth, insert delicious salad.

You will need…

For the Caramelized Onions:

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, very thinly sliced

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

For the Dressing:

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon honey

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad:

2 pink grapefruits

1 head romaine lettuce, thinly sliced

1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 small cucumber, thinly sliced

3 scallions, finely sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

Start by heating the oil for the onions over medium heat. Add the onions, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper once the oil is hot.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are deep golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, fennel, cucumber, scallions, and thyme.

While the onions are cooking, peel and trim the ends from each grapefruit. Using a paring knife, cut along the membrane on both sides of each segment. Free the segments and add them the bowl with the other salad ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, lemon juice and honey. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until blended. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until all the ingredients are coated. Arrange the caramelized onions on top and serve.

Don’t worry. More juicy (or should I say saucy) dinner details to come tomorrow.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela