I wanted to share my favorite salad with you guys. It’s really delicious and super easy to make. I have it for lunch about twice a week. It could easily be split in 2 – great for sharing, however I manage to finish it all by myself. YUM!
First we start with a HAAS avocado – these are the smaller dark ones. Cube it up into bite sized pieces and throw it into the bowl.
Next is the cucumber. I like the English cucumbers – the ones that come wrapped in plastic. I find there are less seeds and the skin to be thinner and less waxy and I don’t have to peel it. Less work for me is always a good thing! These things are big so I cut off a small chunk and cut into bite sized pieces as well.
For tomatoes I use grape tomatoes for a couple of reasons. I love how sweet they taste and they are small enough that if I don’t want to cut them I don’t have to. Most times I cut them into 2 or 3 pieces depending on how big they are.
I forgot to take a photo of the red onion (oops!) but that would be next. I like to cut it into really small pieces. I like the flavor but don’t want to bite into a big chunk.
For saltiness I add some olives. I prefer the Kalamata but use whatever you like. Just make sure they are pitted and I also cut them up into small pieces.
For crunch (always gotta have the crunch!) I add a sprinkling of nuts at the end. My favorite choices are pepitas (used here) which are roasted pumpkin seeds but I also like pistachios, pine nuts and sunflower seeds.
We’re almost done!! Now it’s time to make the dressing. Don’t be scared, it’s really easy!
In a small bowl, start with about a 1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard and squeeze in a 1/2 lemon. This is important – make sure to mix these together before adding in your oil. It will just make it easier to combine with the oil.
Then drizzle in some extra virgin olive oil and keep mixing as you’re drizzling until the consistency looks right. Mix in some salt and pepper and we’re good.
Now in a bowl just mix it all together – veggies and dressing. Then sprinkle with the pepitas and your lunch is done!
I have a little ritual here. I ALWAYS have to use this green bowl with this salad. It’s wide and shallow and fits perfectly.
What I love about this salad is the balance of tastes and textures. Creaminess from the avocado, tang from the tomatoes, a cool refreshing taste from the cucumber, a little kick from the onion, salt from the olives and crunch from the pepitas. Then the dressing just puts it over the top! Sounds like a party to me!!
Are you into salads? What’s your favorite?
Yum! Smells like summer to me. I like more lettuce in my salad, then I put in some chicken, dried cranberries some nuts and If I have it a bit of feta cheese.
My other favorites are caesar and greek but sometimes I like a break from so much lettuce.