Thursday, July 21, 2016

Avocado & Hearts of Palm Salad with Coriander Vinaigrette


When dad and I went to Aldi’s the other day (You do remember that story, right? If not, you can refresh your memory here.), in addition to picking up my weight in asparagus (So many delicious recipes are coming!), I also picked up bunch of coriander (cilantro) about the size of a small Buick. Cilantro is one of those herbs that people tend to either love or hate – no middle of the road with cilantro – and I happen to be one of those would love it.  Once I got home with it, and cleared a rather large spot in the fridge, I wondered how I was going to manage to consume it all. (It has a rather limited shelf…errr, refrigerator…life.) I was perusing epicurious.com, entering lists of the oddball things that I had on hand, and up popped this recipe.  I made the dressing as stated, but cut way back on everything else, using only 1 avocado, 3 hearts of palm that I cubed, and shaved a small handful of red onion on the mandolin until I got what I thought would be a suitable, but not overbearing amount. It made a wonderful main dish salad -- very tasty, satisfying, and surprisingly hearty.
The following day I used the extra dressing to dress a potato salad that I tossed together using baby potatoes cooked until fork tender, slightly cooled and sliced, along with 2 scallions, diced, 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped, 2 ribs of celery, thinly sliced, some chopped red pepper left over from the Pimiento Toasts, and a bit of salt and pepper.  It was an easy and delicious side dish using, essentially, what was leftover in the fridge…and no one was the wiser.

Avocado & Hearts of Palm Salad
Slightly adapted from epicurious.com

1 small garlic clove
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 14-ounce
jar Melissa’s hearts of palm, drained
4 California firm-ripe avocados
1 small red onion, sliced thin
Boston lettuce leaves
In a blender purée garlic and coriander with lemon juice, sugar, and salt. With motor running add oil in a stream, blending until dressing is emulsified.

Cut hearts of palm and avocado into 3/4-inch cubes and in a large bowl with a rubber spatula gently toss with onion and vinaigrette until combined well.

Line 8 salad plates with lettuce leaves and mound avocado mixture on top.
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2 comments:

sandy said...

Looks and sounds delicious. I'm one of those that love Cilantro and could eat it on anything.

Gardening Helen said...

I love avocados and hearts of palms - and together?? Fabulous! Thanks for joining the What's for dinner link up!