Avocado Salad

Simple avocado salad with tomatoes, cucumber, red onions, and a mustard vinaigrette dressing is delicious alone or served with greens, quinoa, or chickpeas! 

I’ve been seeing so much great feedback on my Avocado Bruschetta, that I wanted to a spin-off salad recipe with similar ingredients. I signed up for the “hearty vegetarian salad” slot for our school’s staff appreciation lunch and thought it would be the perfect time to give this avocado salad a go. This avocado salad is simple. The bulk of it is made up of avocado, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and cucumber. I’ve dressed it with a mustard vinaigrette, but you could really use your favorite vinaigrette. A simple red wine or white balsamic vinegar and olive oil would be lovely. Or you could give this avocado salad some Mexican flair by dressing it with lime juice, olive oil, cumin, and garlic. While a simple avocado salad is a terrific side dish as-is, I love adding it to a bed of arugula and adding quinoa or chickpeas with a sprinkle of hemp seeds to make it a solid lunch salad.

Avocado salad is such a nice option to bring to BBQs and potlucks, or just to serve as a side at home. Although avocados turn brown quickly, they stay green in this recipe thanks to the acid content of the vinegar and lemon juice. You can make this salad several hours in advance and store in the refrigerator.

My best tip for making this avocado salad recipe is to choose the avocados wisely. Unlike when we are making guacamole and look for softer avocados to mash, we want firm avocados here so that they don’t get smashed while tossing the salad together with the dressing. Use avocados that just barely give when pressed.

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Yield: Serves 8

Avocado Salad

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

This easy avocado salad with mustard vinaigrette is perfect for parties and potlucks, but is also a delicious side dish at home. I love adding arugula, quinoa, and/or chickpeas to this simple avocado salad.

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Ingredients

• 3 barely ripe avocados, peeled, seeded, and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 English hothouse cucumber, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 pint red cherry or grape tomatoes , halved lengthwise
• 1 pint yellow cherry or grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tablespoon coarse seeded mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Place the prepared avocado, cucumber, tomatoes, onions, and parsley in a salad serving bowl.
2. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, mustards, and salt.
3. Dress the salad with the dressing right away to prevent the avocados from browning. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Store covered in the refrigerator until ready to eat, up to 4 hours.

Notes

This salad is a great side dish as-is, but there are a few additions I really love. 
*Serve over a bed of arugula or gently mix the greens in. 
*Add 1 1/2 cups of drained chickpeas or cooked and cooled quinoa for added protein to make it a meal.
Nutrition information is approximate and based on 1/8 of the total recipe including the dressing.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1/8 recipe
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 133