Avocado and Tomato Salad

Have you ever shopped for an avocado?  It is frustrating isn’t it?  They ship them to the store hard as rocks because they ship better as rocks than as perfectly ripe avocados.  I understand this, but because of this necessity by the grocer utilizing an avocado takes some planning; some forethought.  I admit that at times I am an impulse buyer (remember the dragon fruit) and sometimes go to the market every day to find what I will be having for dinner that night.  You can’t do that with an avocado usually.  You have to buy it with the intention of letting it get ripe, which can take a couple of days of sitting on your counter while you wait for it to be perfect, and sometimes you miss that moment, because you forgot to check it the next day and it is now too soft with brown spots in the flesh that do not taste good at all.  But for all that, I could eat avocados every day, especially in salads.

This salad comes by way of Bobby Flay, and is a great use of an avocado as a main ingredient and is a nice cool salad for a warm day (which we are not having by the way).  In his (Bobby’s) presentation of this salad he used coconuts as serving vessels.  Really?  That is just a little too precious for me, but whatever floats your boat.

Avocado and Tomato Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette

2 servings

• 1 large ripe Haas avocado cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 large vine-ripened tomatoes cut into 1-inch chunks
• ½ large red onion thinly sliced
• Cilantro Vinaigrette
• 2-3 cups mixed salad greens
• Fresh ground pepper
• Cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions:

1. Place avocados, tomatoes and onions in medium bowl.  Add about 1/8 cup of the vinaigrette and toss well to coat being careful not to bruise the avocado.
2. Place salad greens on two plates and top with the dressed avocados and tomatoes, grind on some fresh ground pepper and top with some cilantro leaves.

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