This salad recipe is barely a recipe in that most of the ingredients are listed in the title. Plus diced red onions (or yellow or white if that’s what you have), plus a simple lemon and olive oil dressing, plus a handful of chopped herbs. Oh, and plus salt and pepper. But you knew that.
Make Ahead Salad Recipe
I like to juice the lemon, and mix it with the olive oil, and chop up the onion and cucumber a day ahead. A few hours before I’m planning to serve this, I toss it all together along with the tomatoes, and then just before it goes on the table the avocados are cut and added and the dressing gets folded in. Each section of the process takes about 3 to 4 minutes, which is almost not even time worth counting.
You can drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil right into the salad as well—no need to combine them ahead of time, unless you feel like it.
Vary Up the Herbs
Toss in those herbs—parsley is fresh and not particularly assertive, so go for a full ¼ cup. Cilantro has a more pronounced flavor, so play with the amount, between 2 and 4 tablespoons, taste and see how much you like starting with a lesser amount. You can also use other fresh herbs—add a tablespoon of thyme or oregano, and increase from there. For basil, 2 tablespoon of chiffonaded (or slivered) basil is a good place to start.
I like to leave the skin on the cucumber for the additional touch of dark green color. Do scrape out any seeds—they aren’t so nice in this salad (or any other, I find). When you are adding in the avocado, use smooth gentle tossing motions to and try not to bang up the little cubes as much as possible. But a little dinging up will happen and it’s fine!
Tomato, Avocado and Cucumber Salad: Colorful and fresh and filled with a variety of textures, this easy recipe is a great summer and early fall go-to salad for all kinds of meals.
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This summery salad is perfect with pretty much anything that would come off of a grill, and also the kind of salad that also kind of functions as a topping, in that it would be great heaped over a piece of grilled or seared chicken, some poached salmon, or a big fat burger.
And if you want to offer a real show off assort of summer salads on a buffet, think about pairing this Tomato, Avocado and Cucumber Salad up with Artichoke, Feta and Roasted Pepper Couscous Salad, Caesar Salad, and Chickpea Salad. The vegetarians in the crowd will leave talking about what a terrific human being you are.
Try this on the side of any of these 5 Great Grilled Dishes.
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Tomato, Avocado and Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe tomatoes
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- ½ cup diced red onion
- 2 ripe avocados
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped parsley or 2 to 4 tablespoons cilantro
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl, toss together the tomatoes, cucumber, and onion. Add the avocado, drizzle over the olive oil and lemon juice, and sprinkle over the parsley or cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Gently toss until everything is well combined. Serve relatively quickly.
Nutrition Information
The nutrition values are provided as an estimate. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a qualified healthcare professional.
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