Ben cleaned up the grill this weekend so we can start using it for the season (bring on da meats.) Tonight’s menu calls for Homemade Brat Burgers, baked beans, and Italian Guacamole Salad!
Have you ever given your guac an Italian twist? It’s so good. I always have one or two lemons on hand – limes for whatever reason, not so much. Anyway, I like to make homemade guacamole for our near-weekly taco night but if I forget to pick up a lime at the store, I’ll sub in lemon. Works so well!
With summer just around the corner, and the weather warming up, I decided to give my lemon-infused guacamole a chunky salad twist, and Italian Guacamole Salad, aka The Most Refreshing Salad EVER, is the result.
Chopped Roma tomatoes and avocado are combined with thinly sliced red onion, a teensy bit of fresh garlic, and plenty of fresh basil, which really drives home that Italian flavor, then drizzled with fresh lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. So simple and SO summery. Plus it takes just 5 minutes to toss together. Pair with any of the aforementioned grilled meats as a simple side dish or heck, spoon it on top! The salt in the recipe draws out some of the moisture in the tomatoes to create a heavenly, sweet and tangy sauce that would easily jazz up everything from grilled salmon to a plain grilled chicken breast.
In a large bowl combine chopped Roma tomatoes (or whatever you have growing in the garden/picked up at the Farmer’s Market!) chopped avocado, sliced red onion, fresh garlic, chopped fresh basil, and plenty of salt and pepper.
Drizzle lemon juice plus a splash of both balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil on top then fold to combine and coat.
Serve immediately or, like I mentioned, let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or so to let the juices from the tomatoes combine withe the fresh lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Oh my gosh, yum – I can’t wait for dinner! I hope you make this fresh and summery salad all season long – enjoy!
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Italian Guacamole Salad
Description
Italian Guacamole Salad is a fresh, fast, and flavorful side dish. Pair with grilled chicken or fish for a healthy dinner in no time!
Ingredients
- 3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
- 1 large avocado, chopped
- 1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh basil, thinly sliced
- 1 tiny clove garlic, pressed or microplaned
- salt and pepper
- 1 lemon*
- drizzle balsamic vinegar*
- drizzle extra virgin olive oil*
Directions
- Add tomatoes, avocado, red onion, basil, garlic, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. Add the juice of 1/2 lemon, balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil then toss gently to combine. Taste then add more salt, pepper, and/or lemon juice if needed, and then serve.
Notes
* Omit and use your favorite homemade or bottled Italian salad dressing instead.
- This salad gets nice and juicy as the salt draws moisture out of the tomatoes so feel free to prepare up to 30 minutes ahead of time and let sit at room temperature before serving.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
This was part of our first grilled dinner of the season, alongside filet mignon and garlic-herb mushrooms … and it stole the show! Seriously delicious, nice and healthful too. Can’t wait to bring this to picnics and BBQs all summer long.
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This was so good!! Love this type of side dish for warmer weather. Thank you for another great recipe, Kristin!
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I made this last night (without the basil bc I didn’t have any) and it was SO good. Thanks for the recipe! I’ve been reading your blog for years now and I love all your recipes
Oh I’m so glad to hear you loved it!! Let me know if you get a chance to try it with the basil sometime. :)
Thank you for sharing about your melasma! Please report back if you find any summer hats you like (or if you try any treatments.)
Yum. This sounds so refreshing and delicious. Can’t wait to try it. Also sometimes I think my favorite parts of your blog posts aren’t the recipe… it’s your commentary in the beginning! I just LOLed in my cubicle at work when you wrote: “I recently saw a commercial of parents bringing their newborn daughter home from the hospital and ugly cried. WTH is wrong with me.” Thanks for the laughs + recipe, too!
Thanks for the inspiration on this recipe! So simple and easy to throw together as part of a healthy dinner!
I am having my Aunt and Uncle over for dinner with BBQ chicken legs and this will be the perfect side. Thank you!!
Update that the salad was a big hit with the rest of the meal. Thank you Kristin, for another winning recipe that makes me look like I know what I am doing in the kitchen.
Oh I’m so glad to hear it, Liz! I’m sure you deserve much more credit then you’re giving yourself!!
This looks like the perfect side to go along with grill days this summer! So fresh!
Italian + Guacamole + Salad can’t help but love this!
Pretty sure this is going to be a summer staple at my house. Can’t wait for tomatoes to be in season