Avocado Salad with Herbs

this avocado salad will get you your daily dose of superfood in the most delicious way possible

It’s hard to believe that something so decadently silky and rich as this avocado salad can be so healthy, but it’s true! The avocado fruit (yes, it’s a fruit) is packed with vitamins and minerals, fiber, and the best kind of fat. It’s also low carb and full of cancer fighting antioxidants. If you’re looking to make a few healthy changes in your diet, the avocado should be one of your first stops.

avocados are full of the good fat!

Don’t be scared off by the whole calorie thing…a half an avocado only has about 100 calories (and that’s the good kind of calories, too!)  Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fats, which help lower bad cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. (Medical News Today)

serving avocado salad (hint: don’t wait!)

Avocados are notorious for going south soon after they’ve been cut. You can prep the other ingredients and have them all ready to toss with the avocados to make a very quick job of it. I always wash and dry my herbs first and then plop them in a mason jar full of water to keep them fresh, then all you have to do is lop off a handful and give them a rough chop. The nice thing about an avocado salad is that it can be a year ’round treat, avocados are always available in the supermarket thanks to overlapping growing seasons in California and Mexico.

I like to serve this avocado and herb salad as part of a lunch spread or for dinner. I think it would go great with chicken salad summer rolls,  grilled chicken skewers, or Mediterranean sheet pan salmon. For a vegan meal, serve it with my rainbow summer rolls.

tips for buying and using fresh avocados

• Plan ahead! The only way to buy avocados, if you ask me, is to buy them firm and let them sit on the counter for a few days. If you try to grab perfectly ripe ones at the grocery story you’re bound to end up with bruised, mushy, sub par fruit.
• Stem test: Flick the small stem at the top of the avocado. If it comes off easily and is green underneath, the avocado is ripe. If it’s brown underneath, it’s overripe. If the stem doesn’t come off, it’s not ripe yet.
• Use very ripe, soft avocados for applications like guacamole or avocado toast where you’ll be mashing the flesh. Choose firmer fruit if you want to serve it in neat slices.
• Store hard or unripe avocados in a paper bag on the counter (not in direct sun) for several days to a week to ripen.
• If you’ve got a fully ripe avocado that you aren’t ready to use, you can store it in the refrigerator, and this will slow down the ripening.

more healthy salads

• Mediterranean Bean Salad
• Marinated Tomato Salad
• Chopped Greek Salad
• Japanese Cucumber Salad (Sunomono)
• Chopped Asparagus Salad Recipe

Avocado and Herb Salad

3.88 from 16 votes

Avocado and Herb Salad ~ a super easy vegan salad made with delicious avocado and loads of bright fresh herbs!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time:10 minutes minutes

Total Time:15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

• 2-3 ripe but firm avocados
• 1 lemon
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp capers
• 1 jalapeño pepper, minced (leave out seeds and membrane for a milder heat)
• a large handful of fresh cilantro, stems removed and rough chopped
• a large handful of fresh parsley, stems removed and rough chopped

dressing

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbsp orange blossom vinegar or your favorite, red or white)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions

• Slice the avocado into thin slices and sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning.
• Add them to a wide shallow serving bowl along with the green onions, capers, herbs, and jalapeño.
• Whisk the dressing together and drizzle over the salad. Serve asap with a fresh grinding of coarse black pepper.

Notes

*recipe lightly adapted from The New York Times

NEW FEATURE! Click here to add your own private notes.

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Author: Sue Moran

Keyword: appetizer, avocado, gluten free, healthy, salad, vegan, vegetarian

Nutrition

Calories: 296 kcal · Carbohydrates: 13 g · Protein: 3 g · Fat: 28 g · Saturated Fat: 4 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 3 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 20 g · Sodium: 121 mg · Potassium: 587 mg · Fiber: 8 g · Sugar: 2 g · Vitamin A: 355 IU · Vitamin C: 42 mg · Calcium: 29 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

Did You Make This?We love seeing what you’ve made! Tag us on social media at @theviewfromgreatisland for a chance to be featured.