Tomato and Avocado Salad

This summer is a whirlwind of events for our family. Our heads are buried in home renovations, and I feel like an HGTV show creeped in and is putting on a live performance in our own humble abode. It’s so much fun and lots of work too. I’m really glad that we waited for 8 years to purchase our first home, since it gave us a chance to really know what we wanted. I also hinted in an earlier post that we had something else exciting in the works, and it happened this weekend! We have a new little guy who joined our family for a while. He is 5, a bundle of energy and CUTE. Life with a baby and life with a 5 year old are definitely very different.

We also spent a lot of time at our new place this weekend, digging into renovations full force. Our two little men were right in the middle of it all. Since we were there all of Saturday, I figured it would be a good time to try out blogging in my new kitchen. We don’t live there, so I don’t have anything in the kitchen, so I took some very simple ingredients and tools with me. It turned out to be very appropriate to make one of my all time favorite dishes as the first recipe to be blogged in our new home. I adore the flavors of tomato, avocado and basil together. With a vibrant dressing to go along with the salad, this is summer perfection 100%. Tomatoes and avocados are both in season right now, so I take advantage of that as much as I can. This salad is very often something I prepare quickly as a snack too. 

Ingredients:

4 tomatoes, sliced

1 small shallot, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, smashed

1/4 cup olive oil

juice of half a lemon

1/2 – 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

2 avocados, sliced

1 handful fresh basil, torn

salt, pepper

Instructions:

Gently toss the sliced tomatoes, sliced shallot and smashed garlic clove with the parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Adding the smashed clove of garlic and letting the salad stand for 5 minutes will allow all the flavors to meld and infuse into the tomatoes without becoming overpowering. I love garlic, but too much of it is a crime. I often use this trick by mildly seasoning the dish that I am preparing with the smashed garlic clove, and then taking it out. You’ll have the garlic flavor, but not the garlic breath that will stick with you for the rest of the day and even give you nightmares. True story.

Bonus Tip: When juicing a lemon, squeeze it over the palm of your hand. You will catch all the seeds before they fall into your salad.

Set aside for about 5 minutes.

I had a curious onlooker who was mesmerized by what was happening in the kitchen. He insisted on being part of the picture. 

He had a grand old time with us that day. 

He even got to see many deer run through our backyard. He preferred to watch from inside.

Anyway, let’s get back to the recipe.

Slice the avocados.

If you mix the avocados and the tomatoes together right away, the salad will become mushy, creamy and look sort of lumpy. Not that that’s bad, but it won’t look very appetizing. This doesn’t stop me when I’m making myself this salad as a snack, but when I want something that will look appealing too, I add the avocados last.

Plate the salad by carefully scooping out the tomatoes and shallots from the salad bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving the liquid behind, and placing them on your serving plate.
Discard the garlic clove. Place the avocado slices on top of the tomatoes. Drizzle some of the salad liquid over the avocado slices.

This is sort of a tomato vinaigrette. It is divine. The acidity in it from the lemon juice and vinegar will help to keep the avocados from turning brown too quickly also.

Add the basil leaves to the salad. Serve immediately.