Avocado Salad Ideas

You can make avocado salads sweet or savory depending on your preference.

Avocados are more than just the main ingredient in guacamole. The green pear-shaped fruit with a rough, wrinkly skin contains 20 essential nutrients such as vitamins E and B, and potassium. A good source of healthy monounsaturated fat, avocados can be eaten on their own, in sandwiches or as a part of a hearty and healthy avocado salad.

Avocado Fruit Salads

The savory avocado fruit combined with other sweeter fruits makes a sweet and savory fruit salad. The website Avocado Salad recommends combining avocado slices with grapefruit sections, chopped watercress and raspberries and piling it on a bed of butter lettuce leaves. A drizzle of a sweet raspberry dressing completes this salad. A tropical fruit salad created by Food Network chef Sunny Anderson combines cubed mangoes with cubed avocados and a little diced red onion, dressed with lime juice and balsamic vinaigrette.

Avocado and Vegetable Salads

The savory flavor of avocados blends well with many vegetables. Avocado Salad's simple avocado vegetable salad combines chopped tomatoes, diced avocado seasoned with black pepper, red onion and balsamic vinaigrette. For a heartier salad, a black bean avocado salad consists of chopped avocados, black beans, corn and chopped bell peppers tossed with a mustard, lemon juice and olive oil dressing. If you're a cucumber lover, combine cubed avocados with cubed cucumbers, chopped onion, minced garlic, salt and pepper and toss it with a lemon and lime juice dressing to create a tangy cucumber and avocado salad.

Avocado Meat Salads

Meat, whether poultry, beef or seafood, adds a strong protein component to an avocado salad. For an easy avocado chicken salad, toss grilled or pan-seared chicken with chopped avocados, tomatoes, onions or scallions and cilantro. Add the cooled chicken and top it all with freshly squeezed lime juice, as well as salt and pepper, to taste. The website Taste of Home offers a simple seafood salad that tosses cooked shrimp with sliced avocados, chopped jalapeños, cilantro, parsley and onions over a bed of romaine lettuce. Drizzle a dressing made with olive oil, lime juice and vinegar on top and blend well.

Avocado and Nut Salad

Nuts go well in many salads, including those built on avocados. An Italian-style avocado and walnut salad offered by Avocado Salad consists of chopped avocado and chopped walnuts on top of lettuce and tossed with lemon juice and Italian dressing. Alternatively, combine avocado and pine nuts that have been toasted to further pronounce the flavor, with tomatoes, lettuce and grated mozzarella cheese. You can also experiment with any of your favorite nuts to add to an avocado salad.

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