Florida Ambrosia Salad
From the kitchen of CarlyCitrus meets tropical sweetness in this vintage Florida salad. Fresh grapefruit, oranges, and pineapple toss with shredded coconut, kumquats, and pomegranate seeds in a light apple juice dressing. Bright, refreshing, and deeply satisfying.
- Prep
- n/a
- Cook
- n/a
- Total
- n/a
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- medium
Ingredients
4 servings
- 11 coconut
- 13 white pink grapefruits
- 13 navel oranges
- 11 pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 11 pint kumquats, cut on a diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- 11/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 11/2 cup unsweetened apple juice
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Pierce the softest eye of the coconut with a metal skewer or small screwdriver and drain any liquid into a small bowl to sample—you should have about 1/2 cup liquid. (If the liquid tastes sweet, the coconut is fresh; if it tastes oily, the coconut is rancid and should be discarded.)
Bake the coconut for 15 minutes then transfer to a folded towel on a work surface. Using the back of a knife or a cleaver, crack the shell open. Break the shell into large pieces and use a strong knife to carefully remove the flesh from the shell. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the brown skin then shave the coconut into thin strips—you should have about 4 cups shaved coconut. Reserve 2 cups for the ambrosia salad; wrap and freeze the remainder for another use. DO AHEAD: Coconut shavings can stored, in an airtight container, in the refrigerator up to 1 week or frozen up to 3 months.
Using a serrated knife, cut the peel off the grapefruits and oranges. Cut the fruit crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds then cut the rounds into bite-size pieces. Transfer to a large bowl; add the pineapple, kumquats, pomegranate seeds, 2 cups coconut shavings, 1/2 cup coconut juice, and the apple juice, and toss gently to combine. Serve at room temperature or chilled. DO AHEAD: Florida Ambrosia Salad can be prepared ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator up to 8 hours.