Before I got pregnant with Andrew salads were a daily thing. I’d make a hearty salad for dinner almost every other night and fill it with tons of delicious items. As soon as I got pregnant (and throughout my pregnancy and after) I tried making the same salad and couldn’t stand it anymore! I tried adding different items to see if that would entice my taste buds but sadly, it didn’t. I finally figured it out- the lettuce was the ingredient that made me dislike everything about it! Salads became a rare occurrence during those times.
A couple months after Andrew’s arrival I went to spend a few weeks in California to visit my family and my step mother always made a simple salad for dinner: cucumber, tomato, avocado, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Who could ever imagine that those simple ingredients could make such a deliciously, amazing taste in your mouth? So, when I got home from the vacation, I started making the salad for dinner and it quickly became something we always ate. My husband sometimes complained about the missing lettuce so I would chop up the lettuce real small so it could blend in with all the other ingredients.
There is nothing better than making a salad with little effort and having it taste really good. Plus, all the ingredients make a nutrient packed salad with the most healthiest of dressings- olive oil. If you have the extra item on hand you could always add some fresh feta cheese to the salad to give it a Mediterranean twist (yum!).
For the particular salad in the picture I used 3 different small sized varieties of heirloom tomatoes and 2 avocados. I didn’t have any cucumbers so I omitted them and the salad was still just as tasty.
- 2 large avocados
- 3-4 small tomatoes
- half a cucumber
- pinch of unrefined sea salt (where to buy)
- sprinkle of some pepper
- extra virgin unfiltered, unrefined olive oil (where to buy)
- balsamic vinegar
- Open the avocado in half, take out the seed, then cut with a knife lengthwise into the avocado. Then cut width wise on the avocado so it looks like you have a checkerboard cuts in your avocado. Use a spoon to scoop them out. Dice the tomatoes and cucumber
- Add all ingredients in a bowl, sprinkle some sea salt and pepper
- Pour olive oil and balsamic over the ingredients (you may have to experiment with how much olive oil and balsamic to put depending on your taste) and mix well.
My aunt stayed the night a few days ago and I made this salad for her and she was “mmmm-ing” and “yummy-ing” the salad the whole night (she’s also a huge fan of my homemade caesar dressing). The tomatoes are in season this time of year which means there are numerous heirloom varieties to choose from. And when any food item is in season they taste exceptionally good.
So go enjoy yourself a salad without putting any hard work into it!
This post is part of: Fight back Friday
'Recipe: Simple Cucumber, Avocado, Tomato Salad' has 23 comments
July 6, 2012 @ 10:00 pm Anonymous
I couldn’t stop thinking about this so I made it last night. So simple and tastes great. Thanks Loriel. Can I come over to dinner everynight? Aunt Paula
July 6, 2012 @ 10:21 pm Loriel
Yay! I’m so happy you made it! You are welcome over to dinner any night you want! Love you!
July 6, 2012 @ 10:10 pm Debbie @ Easy Natural Food
This is a tasty combo of summer vegetables! I’m hosting a weekly link up over summer specifically for salads of all types, every Sunday! I would love you to come and post this recipe. Just stop by my blog on Sunday – the link will be up!
http://www.easynaturalfood.com
I hope to see you there:)
Debbie
July 6, 2012 @ 10:20 pm Loriel
Hi Debbie! Thank you for wanting me to post on your blog- that means a lot to me! You can definitely count me in and will see me on your blog this Sunday.
Have a good weekend!
July 11, 2012 @ 9:59 pm Debbie @ Easy Natural Food
Thanks for linking up your wonderful salad! Love to see you next time you have a salad recipe to share.
October 15, 2012 @ 2:06 am Anonymous
thanks for sharing...
May 5, 2013 @ 1:18 pm Sara Grambusch
Now that it’s getting warmer out this sounds good!
May 24, 2013 @ 12:06 am mary
Just found your blog through Coconut Mama. This looks really good and simple. My son is graduating from highschool next week and we are having a graduation party in a couple of weeks and I think I’m going to make this salad for the party.
May 24, 2013 @ 3:22 am Loriel @ Healthy Roots, Happy Soul
Great! I think everyone will love it. 🙂 If you have feta cheese, I highly recommend adding some in there as well. SO good!
October 6, 2013 @ 3:45 pm Mahdi Martin
I like this idea rather than traditional guacamole. I prefer my avocado to stay in chunks or slices. Sometimes I just eat it by scooping it with a spoon out of the avocado, with lemon juice and pepper-yummy!
February 2, 2014 @ 10:44 pm Real Food Weekly Meal Plan 2/3 - 2/8 | Real Food OutlawsReal Food Outlaws
[…] Lunch – Simple Cucumber Tomato and Avocado Salad […]
April 13, 2014 @ 9:11 pm Real Food Weekly Meal Plan 4/14 - 4/19 | Real Food OutlawsReal Food Outlaws
[…] Lunch – Simple Cucumber, Avocado & Tomato Salad […]
April 15, 2014 @ 10:05 pm Stephanie @ Naturally Mindful
Simple, healthy, and super yum!
April 15, 2014 @ 10:34 pm Loriel @ Healthy Roots, Happy Soul
Totally yum!
April 16, 2014 @ 7:01 pm Simple Cucumber, Avocado and Tomato Salad : Real Food Recipe Roundup
[…] Healthy Roots, Happy Soul […]
April 19, 2014 @ 9:42 am Judy
I love this this salad. I prefer to use lime instead of the balsamic vinegar. This way I avoid added sugar and sulfites.
April 21, 2014 @ 7:05 am Loriel @ Healthy Roots, Happy Soul
oooh, that’s interesting. I’ll have to try it with lime. I wonder if adding a little cilantro would be good too?
April 19, 2014 @ 10:43 am Meredith
I love this salad! My favorite way to make it is with blue cheese crumbles & just a drizzle of olive oil.
April 21, 2014 @ 7:03 am Loriel @ Healthy Roots, Happy Soul
Oh yum! Blue cheese crumbles sounds delicious.
April 30, 2014 @ 2:49 pm BBQ Recipes
[…] Simple Cucumber, Tomato & Avocado Salad by Healthy Roots, Happy Souls […]
April 2, 2015 @ 9:21 pm Carla
Hi Loriel!
This salad sounds so good! Can’t wait to try it. I have a silly question. Can you reccomend a good balsamic
Vinegar ?
April 8, 2015 @ 9:13 am Loriel
I honestly just use Whole Food’s brand balsamic vinegar or BioNaturae brand. 🙂
April 8, 2015 @ 10:52 pm Carla
Thanks so much!