Orange, avocado, and fresh cumin—a wonderful symphony of flavors. I like being creative with flavor combos and figured cumin would work well paired with orange and avocado, since they are all components of Mexican cuisine. The acidity of the orange is a perfect counterpart to the richness of avocado and its sweetness balances cumin's smokey, earthy pungency.
Toasting cumin seeds and grinding them makes all the difference in the flavor profile of this salad. My kitchen smelled heavenly after I ground the cumin seeds. Cumin is a common ingredient in Indian, Mexican, Middle Eastern and Spanish cooking, so after you grind some and are wondering what to do with the rest, be inspired by those cultures. Chón, my Spanish host mámá, used cumin on steamed cauliflower and in her cucumber-bell pepper-tomato salads.
Cooking Tip
Use a coffee grinder for grinding the cumin seeds.
Heat up a small skillet on high for a couple minutes. Remove from heat and add cumin seeds, shaking them around in the pan until they smell fragrant. Putting the cumin seeds in the pan off-heat prevents any burning. Once toasted, pour the seeds into your coffee grinder and pulse until they become finely ground.
I recommend having a coffee grinder that's devoted to grinding only spices.
Riffing
Some ideas: adding arugula and radish, or goat cheese and sunflower seeds, or just a bed of spinach. The salad featured in the photo didn't even need a dressing because the oranges were so juicy.
Nutrition Highlight: Cumin
For those who donate blood and tend to have low hemoglobin counts, consider adding more cumin to your food in the few days leading up to your appointment. 1 tsp of cumin has 1.4 mg of iron, which is 7% of the daily value (DV). This DV may seem low, but when you look at the DV for raisins, which are touted to be a good source of iron, 1/4 c has only 6% of the DV.
Researchers at Mysore University found cumin to be a helpful digestive aid because it helps the liver secrete bile, an important substance that aids in fat breakdown. Cumin increased bile secretion in the study by an impressive 71%!
Printable Recipe
For 1 salad:
1/2 a small avocado
1/2 a medium orange
cumin seeds (could do about 1 T)
freshly ground black pepper
red cabbage
To toast the cumin:
Heat up a small skillet on high for a couple minutes. Remove from heat and add cumin seeds, shaking them around in the pan until they smell fragrant and toasted. SKR Note: Putting the cumin seeds in the pan off-heat prevents any burning.
Once toasted, pour the seeds into your coffee grinder and pulse until they become finely ground.
To assemble the salad:
This salad can easily be made larger, but if you are making just one salad, only dice the avocado needed for the moment to prevent the rest from oxidizing. The more surface area exposed, the faster it will turn it brown.
Cut the orange into bite-sized segments.
Arrange the avocado and orange on a plate and tuck in bits of red cabbage if you have some on hand.
Add a few grinds of pepper and sprinkle on some cumin (about 1/4 tsp). I had this salad as an accompaniment to a bowl of dal and rice.
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