A little taste of summer, dressed in lemon and extra virgin olive oil
There are days when lunch should be little more than a bowl of something fresh, colourful and beautifully uncomplicated.
This Mediterranean Avocado Salad is exactly that.
Creamy avocado meets sweet cherry tomatoes and crisp salad leaves, brought together with nothing more elaborate than good extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice and a little seasoning. It is the kind of dish that reminds you that cooking well does not always mean cooking complicatedly.
The secret is in the ingredients. Choose avocados that are ripe but still firm, tomatoes that are sweet and fragrant, and an extra virgin olive oil with enough character to be noticed. With so few ingredients, quality makes all the difference.
Serve it as a light lunch with a slice of crusty sourdough, or place it alongside grilled fish, chicken or a simple pasta for an effortlessly Mediterranean dinner.
The recipe
Serves: 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- 100 g mixed salad leaves, washed and thoroughly dried
- 200 g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 ripe but firm avocados
- 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Flaky sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method
1. Prepare the vegetables
Wash and dry the salad leaves well. Halve the cherry tomatoes and set them aside.
Cut the avocados in half, remove the stones and gently peel away the skin. Slice the flesh into generous pieces rather than cutting it too finely.
2. Build the salad
Arrange the salad leaves in a wide serving bowl or platter. Add the cherry tomatoes and avocado, distributing them gently so the avocado remains beautifully intact.
3. Dress simply
Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the salad, followed by the extra virgin olive oil. Season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Gently toss everything together, taking care not to crush the avocado.
4. Serve immediately
Bring the salad to the table straight away, while the leaves are crisp and the avocado is at its best.
A little La Dolce Vita
The beauty of this salad lies in its simplicity, so resist the temptation to overwhelm it with too many ingredients.
If you want to make it a little more substantial, add a handful of toasted pine nuts, a few Kalamata olives or some crumbled feta. For a more distinctly Italian character, try a few shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano.
And if you are serving it as lunch, a piece of warm, rustic bread and a glass of chilled white wine are all it really needs.
The finishing touch
For the best result, dress the salad at the very last moment. Lemon juice will help keep the avocado fresh, but the salad is at its most appealing when served immediately after dressing.
And above all, use your best olive oil. In a recipe this simple, it is not merely a dressing it is one of the main ingredients.
Buon appetito.
