Welcome to Part 3 of our Summer Salad Series!
1. How to Throw a Salad Bar Party with FREE Printable Labels
2. Basic Creamy Salad Dressing and Simple Balsamic Dressing
3. Green Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
I really love salad. I do! I could eat it morning, noon, and night.* <------ Yes that is an *, as in there is a catch to that statement. And it is a BIG catch for me. I never loved salad until I discovered the power of homemade dressings. They taste so much better than the stuff from the bottle and you get the bonus of getting rid of all those yucky preservatives and additives. If you have an amazing dressing, like this Creamy Avocado dressing, you too will LOVE salad! It sure does make it a heck of a lot easier to eat healthy when you feel like salad is one of the tastiest things you have put in your mouth lately!
If you find it here on The Pinning Mama, chances are it is easy and this is no exception! For starters we will make the dressing. You will need 3 ripe avocados. Peel them, remove the seed, dice and place them in a small/medium sized bowl. Add the juice of one lemon, 1/2 – 1 tsp Spice Islands Beau Monde seasoning *the secret ingredient* (you can add more or less to taste), 3 diced green onions, and stir/mash them together until the avocado is fairly smooth. Add 1/4 c olive oil, and 1/4-1/2 c water until the dressing is the a consistency you like. When I use romaine or another hearty green, I like the dressing thicker because it will support it. If I am using a more delicate green like spring mix or spinach, I will make it thinner so it doesn’t weigh down the greens. Once it is mixed, chill it in the refrigerator for 1-4 hours to let the flavors meld.
After you mix the dressing you will want to prepare your salad. I prefer romaine hearts for this salad because its heartiness pairs well with the thicker dressing, but you can use a comparable amount of any green. I usually chop 2-3 romaine hearts depending on the size. You will add 1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1 c of croutons (see our amazing homemade crouton recipe here), and 1/2 c cherry tomatoes halved.
Once the dressing is done chilling toss all the ingredients together and enjoy! This is truly a unique and wonderful salad. I also LOVE that you get a creamy dressing without using any mayonnaise sour cream, cheese, or buttermilk!
This is one of my favorite salads! Let us know in the comments what your favorite salad is!
You might want to follow our Salad board on Pinterest! It is filled with many more great salad ideas and homemade dressings.
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Green Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
Ingredients
- 2-3 Romaine Hearts chopped
- 1/2 C Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 C Croutons
- 1/2 C Cherry Tomatoes halved
For the dressing:
- 3 Ripe Avocados diced
- 1/2-1 Tsp Spice Islands Beau Monde Seasoning
- 1 Lemon juiced
- 3 Green Onions diced
- 1/4 C Olive Oil
- 1/4-1/2 C Water
Instructions
- Mash together avocado and next 3 dressing ingredients in a small/medium sized bowl until avocado is almost smooth. Adding more or less Beau Monde seasoning to taste.
- Slowly add oil and water while mixing until it reaches desired consistency.
- Chill for 1-3 hours
- Combine greens and next 3 ingredients in a large salad bowl.
- After dressing is chilled, toss with salad mixture and serve immediately.
Nutrition Information:
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Remember to check out these yummy homemade croutons! It is a quick and easy way to make your salad over the top delicious while using up old bread at the same time!
And if you need something sweet after your salad you might want to try our Double Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake!
Stay tuned for 3 more great summer salads coming up on The Pinning Mama over the next few weeks!
Jen @ PinKWhen says
I think this salad would be good with the fajitas! I know you don’t do beef, but switch it to chicken. This salad looks AWESOME!
Kristin Shaw (Two Cannoli) says
What’s in that seasoning? Where can I find it? There’s an awesome spice store near my house with fresh blends, so if I can replicate it with them, I’d love to.
Kimber says
The brand is Spice Islands and the name of the blend is Beau Monde. You should be able to find it any major supermarket with the exception that I don’t think Wal-Mart carries Spice Islands at all. I bought mine at Albertsons.
As for the blend itself it has kind of a Cajun flair perhaps? The ingredients on my bottle say Salt, dextrose, onion, celery seed, and silicon dioxide. If you can recreate it more power to you! You are braver than me!
Jackie Karlic says
Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog. Yum! This looks great!!! I am not good at being creative with salads and won;t eat a salad unless there is yummy stuff in it. You have a great blog and I am now following on Pinterest.
Kimber says
Thanks for stopping by Jackie! We have had lots of discussions with our friends about salads and thus the summer salad series was born! I hope you will stick around for more ideas! We are following back on Pinterest!
Tanya says
Wow, so I’m 7 years late to the party (LOL), but wondering if I can sub frozen diced avocado rather than fresh? The recipe sounds delish, I’m anxious to try it. Thanks for sharing this salad series, they’re all great!
Kimber says
Better late than never lol! Welcome! I definitely think that you could use frozen. It just gets mashed so it shouldn’t matter much!