Citrus salad … for breakfast

By Metro Creative

Like Mom always said, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But breakfast can also be the most boring meal of the day for those people unwilling to spice up their morning routine. For those unafraid to try something new at the breakfast table, the following recipe for “Citrus Salad With Vin Santo and Mint” from Norman Kolpas’ “Buongiorno! Breakfast and Brunch, Italian Style” (Contemporary Books) combines a famed central Italian dessert wine with popular morning fruits.

Citrus Salad With Vin Santo and Mint

Serves 4 to 6

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

1/2 cup Vin Santo

4 sweet seedless oranges

1 ruby, pink or white grapefruit

Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

With your hands, firmly crush the mint leaves. Put them in a small nonreactive bowl or a large glass and pour the Vin Santo over them. Leave to soak for at least 30 minutes.

With a citrus zester, remove the zest from one of the oranges in thin strips or remove the zest using a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler, taking care to avoid any of the bitter white pith, and then use a small, sharp knife to cut the zest crosswise into thin strips. Reserve the zest.

To segment the oranges and grapefruit, first cut a slice off the top and bottom of each fruit just thick enough to expose the pulp beneath its membrane. Then, steadying a fruit on a cutting board on one of its cut ends, carefully slice off the peel in strips just thick enough to remove the outer membrane from each segment, following the fruit’s contour. Holding the fruit over a mixing bowl, carefully use a small, sharp knife to cut down along the membrane on either side of each segment, freeing the segment and letting it drop into the bowl.

Hold a strainer over the bowl and pour the Vin Santo through it to remove the crushed mint leaves; discard the leaves. Add the reserved orange zest and stir gently to mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour. Garnish the salad with mint sprigs before serving.