This green salad has flavours reminiscent of Mexico so I call it Mexican Avocado Orange Salad. I like to serve it in winter when oranges are at their peak.
In my opinion one can never have too many good salad recipes. This one has vibrant colours and a simple lime vinaigrette that lets all the flavours in this delicious combination shine.
Homemade vs Store Bought Salad Dressing
I like homemade salad dressing and I always have. When I learned to cook I wanted to try all the ingredients I'd never heard of and the combinations I read about but couldn’t even imagine. That included all sorts of salads with dressings using flavoured oils and vinegars.
At that time many of the oils and vinegars could only be found in specialty food shops. Nowadays I most often use extra virgin olive oil for my salad dressings but I do have a collection of vinegar in my pantry.
In my kitchen I default to a basic vinaigrette dressing using any combination of oil and vinegar in a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio.
This Mexican Avocado Orange Salad uses a simple lime vinaigrette made with three parts olive oil to one part lime juice.
From Everyday to Gourmet
On any given night I chop up lettuce, toss everything together and serve this salad in a bowl. Even in a big salad bowl, the colours of the avocado, tomato, orange and corn look beautiful. For an everyday meal I’ll skip ingredients I don't have or combine elements of different salads I like.
But, when I'm serving this salad to friends and want the gourmet presentation I follow the recipe. I choose the nicest lettuce leaves to line a large platter and I carefully cut the ingredients to the size I want. Those details turn this salad into a gourmet dish that is sure to please everyone.
To complete the meal I would serve any of these Mexican or South American inspired dishes:
Get The Tools
You don’t need a lot of tools for salad making but you need some basics. My list includes:
- An awesome knife, I like my 10-inch Chef’s knife
- A sturdy extra large plastic cutting board
- I use my immersion blender to fully emulsify oil and vinegar. Just as often I simply use a whisk to make a quick dressing in a small bowl. If you dislike whisking by hand you can measure the oil and vinegar directly into a jar and shake vigorously.
- Both salad dressing bottles and Mason jars are great for storing the vinaigrette.
- A gorgeous wooden salad bowl or a nice glass platter will be used over and over to serve all kinds of salads so are a good investment.
Let me know in the comments below if you tried this salad and how you liked it.
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More Salad Recipes
Mexican Avocado Orange Salad
Ingredients
- 1 avocado, peeled and chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 oranges, peeled and chopped or segmented
- ⅔ cup frozen corn, thawed
- ¼ cup minced red onion
LIME VINAIGRETTE
- 6 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon lime juice from 1-2 limes
- salt & pepper to taste
SERVING
- red lettuce leaves to line the platter
- 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Instructions
MAKE LIME VINAIGRETTE*
- In a small bowl whisk oil and lime juice together.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
TOSS SALAD
- Combine all salad ingredients in a large salad bowl. Pour vinaigrette over salad, add cilantro and gently toss.
- Line platter with whole lettuce leaves. Mound salad in the center of the platter and sprinkle with cilantro.
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