Day 105: Avocado Salad with Hearts of Palm ♥

Today's lovely little make-it-your own avocado salad: It's as good as can be, just cubes of avocado tossed with hearts of palm (and if you wish, for bulk, cucumber and tomato) and a lemon-y herb-y vinaigrette. I'd happily eat this salad every day! Gluten Free. Paleo. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real".

~recipe & photo updated 2015~
~more recently updated recipes~

2005: Oops. I didn't know til just now that avocados are not vegetables but, um, well, fruit and that hearts of palm are neither fruit not vegetable but stems for goodness sake. Oh well, it's all plants, so qualifies, yes? for entry in A Veggie Venture?

Be sure to use ripe avocados, they make all the difference. These stores in a paper bag on the counter for almost a week before a gentle squeeze told me, "Now! Now the avocados are ripe!"

2015: We've become addicted to avocados thanks to Smitten Kitchen's Avocado-Cucumber Salad and find ourselves not buying one avocado after another but one bag of avocados after another! This is another fine salad, I love the shape of the hearts of palm!

RECIPE for AVOCADO SALAD with HEARTS OF PALM

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 20 minutes
Serves 4

DRESSING
1/4 cup fresh cilantro or mint or basil or whatever appeals, rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
1 teaspoon garlic
Zest from 1 lemon (a Microplane works beautifully)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil (reduced from 8 tablespoons in the original recipe)

SALAD
15-ounce jar hearts of palm, drained, sliced into rounds, centers separated from rings
2 tablespoons finely diced red or yellow onion
English cucumber, diced, optional
Grape tomatoes, quartered, optional
1 or 2 avocados, diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pepper to taste

DRESSING Mix all ingredients in a small food processor. If you like, this can be made ahead of time.

SALAD Combine the hearts of palm, onion and any extra vegetables in a bowl. Last, add the diced avocado and drizzle the avocado with lemon juice (this is to prevent it from turning brown). Add the Dressing and pepper, gently toss.

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
HEARTS OF PALM (2015) Trader Joe's carries jars of nice hearts of palm. They're pricey, though! A $3.39 15-ounce jar yields only 9 ounces of edible hearts of palm, that's the equivalent of $6 a pound. Yikes!
AVOCADOS (2015) I've learned to keep a spare avocado or two on hand. I intended to use two in this salad but the first one was quite discolored, certainly not pretty. So I bulked up the salad with cucumber and tomatoes, they worked really well!
AVOCADO NUTRITION (2005) My nutrition/calorie information source (based on a USDA database) says that California avocadoes have 384 calories per cup, Florida avocadoes 276 calories per cup - a huge difference. Unfortunately, at least my regular supermarkets rarely provide that information. Last summer one did place special emphasis on "lower-fat" avocadoes (that I know now were apparently from Florida) but I haven't seen any information since.
HOW TO DICE AN AVOCADO (2005) Cut the avocado in half lengthwise, stem to stem. Twist one half, this separates it from the other half and the pit. To remove the pit, whack it with the blade of a knife, then twist the knife to loosen the pit. Now cup one avocado half in your palm, then insert a spoon between the flesh and the skin, lifting the flesh away from the skin. Use a knife to cross-hatch the flesh, then re-insert the spoon to lift out the diced avocado. So easy!
"SMALL" FOOD PROCESSORS (2005) Some times I use a small Cuisinart for making dressing, it works great. But mostly, I use immersion blender's food processor-type attachment which holds just 1-1/2 cups, it's the perfect size for salad dressing and other small jobs.

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION Adapted from Gourmet Magazine January 1995

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving, assumes 1 avocado, 1 cup diced cucumber and 1 cup diced tomato: 227 Calories; 14g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 159mg Sodium; 25g Carb; 5g Fiber; 13g Sugar; 3g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS: WW Old Points 5 & WW PointsPlus 6

---

Still Hungry?

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here.
Once you do, new recipes will be automatically delivered straight to your e-mail In Box.

CRAZY FOR AVOCADO? MORE FAVORITE RECIPES!

~ Avocado Dip ~
~ Laura's Famous Chunky Guacamole ~
~ Seven-Layer Strawberry Salad with Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing ~
~ Cool-as-a-Cucumber Avocado Soup ~
~ more avocado recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Fruity Gazpacho ~
~ Tropical Salad Supper ~
~ Grilled Steak with Summer Tomato Salad ~
~ more avocado recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

A Veggie Venture is home of 'veggie evangelist' Alanna Kellogg and the
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2005 & 2015