Lemony romaine and avocado salad that's a perfect side dish or foundation to build a meal. Here are some ideas!
When it's hot outside, you need a salad that can do double duty for you. What I mean is, a salad perfect for either a side dish, or to build on for a meal. This lemony romaine and avocado salad is the one I turn to, and it's like having a little black dress perfect for a wide range of occasions. You can find this salad in my new cookbook along with over 20 other recipes that don't require you to turn on the stove or oven. Over the weekend, I'll share a partial table of contents for this chapter to give you a peak.
In summer, I nix the pomegranate seeds of course, only because I can't find them, and I double the dressing so I can build it into a meal.
Here are some ideas for doing this:
- Add some white beans and charred broccolini.
- Roast up some spicy, crispy chickpeas and cauliflower, and toss them in.
- Go in a Mexican direction with black beans, red peppers, and corn, and make a lime vinaigrette instead.
- If you eat fish, top this salad with grilled shrimp or salmon.
- Cook up a batch of brown rice or farro, toss it with roasted asparagus and tomatoes, and scoop on top of this salad.
- Toss with flash-sautéed zoodles (spiralized zucchini) and a flurry of Parmesan cheese.
- Add lentils, tomatoes and steamed small potatoes, and use sherry vinegar in the vinaigrette.
- And now for the salad!
Lemony Romaine and Avocado Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup Lemon Vinaigrette recipe below
- 2 avocados cut into chunks
- Freshly ground black pepper
Lemon Vinaigrette (makes about 1/4 cup)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Remove and discard any wilted leaves from the romaine. Wash and spin-dry the remaining leaves. Tear or slice
- the leaves into bite-size pieces. Place the leaves in a large bowl, and toss with the pomegranate seeds, pine nuts,
- and half of the vinaigrette.
- Slice the avocados in half. Remove the pit from each, and slice the avocados into long thin slices. Using a large spoon, carefully scoop the slices out of the peel.
- Layer the avocado slices on top of the lettuce in the bowl, and drizzle half of the remaining dressing over them.
- Carefully toss using your hands or a large metal spoon. Add the remaining dressing as needed.
- Finish with a few sprinkles of pepper.
Lemon Vinaigrette
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the olive oil.
Nutrition
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Rita says
I’m a lemon lover, so this dressing is perfect, especially with avocado. All summer long, I put fresh corn in my green salads — of course it’s been cooked days before so its chilled in fridge, then cut off the cob for the salad
Katty Balle says
I’m an avocado girl and I will obviously eat anything with avocado on it. It has a lot of essential fats and nutrients that greatly impact your health. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Svet Tour.Com says
I had some Citrus Vinaigrette in my refrigerator, so I used that instead of making the Lemon Vinaigrette below.