Avocado Salad Recipe
A few snapshots from Mexico City & an avocado salad - thinly sliced avocado arranged over simple lentils, drizzled with oregano oil, toasted hazelnuts, and chives.
Apparently, I didn't get my fill of avocados while in Mexico City. I particularly love the tiny, anise-kissed, Mexican ones you see in the markets there. I believe they're named criollo - thin-skinned, shiny, nearly black, they're particularly creamy, and I've yet to see them in the markets here in San Francisco. Not that I'm complaining, there are beautiful avocados here nearly year-round, but those petite guys win me over every time. I even eat the skins. This was the first thing I made after arriving home - thinly sliced avocado arranged over simple lentils, drizzled with oregano oil, toasted hazelnuts, and chives. A satisfying lunch to be sure. I'm going to include a few snapshots from the trip down below - a few of you have mentioned that you'd like a city guide, and I hope to share that (along with some new items) in the shop, in the near future...it's in the works. But, the long and short of it all is...If you have a chance visit Mexico City - do it. It's such an expansive, amazing place. Closer than New York for me, just a four hour flight from SFO. I've been twice now, and I always come home incredibly inspired by the ingredients, design, architecture, and warmth and generosity of the Mexican people.
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Avocado Salad
I used lentilles du Puy here, but any lentils that hold their shape will work - Umbrian lentils or black lentils would be good alternatives.
2 teaspoons fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups cooked lentils
1-2 ripe avocados, quartered
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped
1/4 cup minced chives
Smash the oregano and salt into a paste in a mortar and pestle. Gradually work in the olive oil, and then the lemon juice.
Toss the lentils with 2 tablespoons of the oregano oil, taste, and season if needed. Arrange on a platter or in a bowl. Just before serving, cut the avocado into quarters, then slice quite thinly, and arrange on top of the lentils. Drizzle with a bit more of the oil, and sprinkle with the hazelnuts, and chives. A final drizzle of oil might be needed, and perhaps a bit more lemon juice. Enjoy!
Serves 4.
Prep time: 5 minutes
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After purchasing Marc Bittman’s VB6 I was determined to improve our health. Not completely enamoured of VB6, I googled “vegan recipies” about 3 months ago and found your site. I have been in heaven ever since. I’ve purchased both your cookbooks and am discovering grains, spices, oils and vegetables I never know existed. My husband, who survived on italian lunchmeat and candy bars looks forward to each day’s new meals. We decided that we would not restrict ourselves to only vegan meals. Just adding all the fruit, vegetables, grains, beans and herbs to our diet have opened our eyes to a new outlook on food! Thank you, Heidi!
FYI- I recently bought 4/$1 tasty little mini avocados at LeBeau Market. They were displayed outside by the door.
Thank you for such a terrific recipe. It’s delicious. The best part was that I was so excited to see it – am on such a strict regimen of anti-allergenic diets/anti-inflammatory that there are so few things to eat without grains, eggs, sugars, dairy, etc etc. This was wonderful. (Avocado is the only raw veg allowed on this treatment…) Thanks, Heidi.
This like many other of your recipes looks absolutely divine…I love avocados.
I have eaten this dish three times in a week! Yes it combines by two favourite foods namely lentils and avocado. Fantastic simplicity, love the fresh oregano oil which takes it to a whole new level. Thank you for this dish. I enjoy your approach and execution immensely 🙂
Looks so beautiful and delicious. I am a new vegan and this recipe incorporates two of my family’s favorite things; avocados and lentils. YUM
My father-in-law in Australia has a farm full of avocado trees. Invariably every time we visit we’re forced to make use of them and have tried them in all sorts of recipes. Happy to report that your recipe went down a treat!!
I made this salad the other night for dinner and it was fantastic. I threw in other things I had in the fridge, in addition to the avocado: fresh corn, fresh homemade cheese, some chopped hard-cooked eggs, roasted sweet potato. It was luscious, and my 3-year-old ate it up (although I gave her bits and pieces with no dressing, rather than mixing it all together). Very simple recipe and would be wonderful with many different combinations of veggies, summer or winter.
My husband has family in Mexico City and we visit almost every year. We love it there, it’s a great city.
My weeknight quick dinner version of this dish based on what I had in my kitchen at the moment….quinoa instead of lentils, pine nuts instead of hazelnuts, and an added dusting of fresh graded parmesan on top. Quite the diversion from the original but it was still wonderful!
I do not have any hazelnuts. What can I use instead? I have pistachios, almonds and pine nuts?
HS: Hi Lori – any of those are A+ substitutes 🙂
I cannot wait to try this… I’m so glad I am back on your site…. I missed all these wonderful recipes and your ‘sharing’ of your adventures!
This post is perfect timing — I’m heading to el DF in 2 weeks to visit family. My uncle works at La Merced; I’ll be sure to get the scoop on criollos from him. I bet they don’t transport as well as Haas, but you never know:)
HS: Have a great time Kate! You’ll have to let me know your favorite spots for my next trip!
I totally agree that Mexico City is unfortunately under appreciated by most people, or that misconceptions keep people from visiting altogether. I’ve been multiple times, but don’t recall noticing anything different about types of avocados there. Bummer – definitely wishing I had paid closer attention. Either way, I’m looking forward to some more Mexico City-inspired posts here 🙂
We really liked this but will try it with basil from our garden next time 🙂
hey heidi! this salad looks delicious. you can find the small tiny avocados at the market on the corner of 16th & mission, also at the market on the corner of 17th & mission! i buy them all the time!
HS: Thanks Natalie! I’ll look the next time I walk over there.
Oh my goodness… I just made this since I recently received a gift avocados (!) and the oregano, sea salt, lemon, olive oil combo is enough to send me to the moon! Heidi, I think you may have cured my aversion to lentils!
It looks delicious. You’re welcome to Tanzania to enjoy fresh fruits.
I ADORE avocados and lentils. Sometimes I will combine them in tacos, but this salad looks really delicious. I imagine the hazelnuts and chives are such a great addition. Thank you for this recipe 🙂
I loved the pictures from your trip.
Delicious !
Wow this looks amazing! I totally love avocados and lentils so can’t wait to try this out! Thanks for this beautiful salad recipe!
Yes, I need an avocado recipe! Super looking forward to trying this one. Oh and if you’re taking requests!! Is there a new cookbook coming out!?? My SuperNatural Everyday is tattered and I may need to give it a break, maybe!!
That is the most perfect lunch. Perhaps a little crumbled queso fresco or ricotta salata on top? I just adore avocado and cheese together.
The combination of lentils and avocado sounds great – two of my favorites- I am definitely going to try this. This also reminds me of a wonderful meal I had in the 80’s in Mexico that included lentils – an ingredient one doesn’t immediately think of as traditionally Mexican.
I love avocados, and you always think of combinations that I would never dream of – like avocados with lentils! I love your travel posts and the photos you take; the photos themselves seem to communicate the love and openness with which you experience new cultures – lovely.
HS: Many thanks for the kind words Janelle. -h
What about Red Lentils ? My Favorite! Would they work?
HS: Hi Anthony – I’ve found they don’t hold their shape as well.
I live in Mexico city, let me tell you that we are proudly the biggest exporter of avocados in the world!!! Please come again!!! and let me know. All of you are welcome! Thanks for your beautiful comments about my country. I really like your site.
That salad looks wonderful. You are lucky that you got to go to Mexico City. It’s impossible to convince my husband to go.
I have been going through avocado withdrawal as I didn’t have any on vacation (go figure, a lack of avocados in Alaska). This looks like a good way to reintroduce them back into my diet!
Delicious as usual! I enjoy reading about your travels as well.
El DF–such character in that city. My husband & I spent a week wandering under the jacarandas, visiting the markets & eating street food last spring. While the avocados were indeed wonderful (& I’ll be having your recipe for lunch tomorrow), it was the mangoes that I can’t forget. Divine.
Thank you for the photos and salad recipe BUT I heard that Mexico City is very dangerous for tourists.
Love the recipe and the photos! I am in Mexico City now and have found these guides to be helpful, until you publish yours! : )
Jim Johnston’s blog on Mexico City, http://mexicocitydf.blogspot.mx/
And Nicolas Gilman’s on Good Food in MC, http://goodfoodmexicocity.blogspot.mx/
Beautiful presentation! This is one of my favorite types of meals… I love tangy, lemony lentil salads. And paired with avocado? So filling, delicious, and practically decadent. Lovely recipe.
I love Mexico. the flavors, the colors, the people. So much to offer. However, I am really trying to figure out what avocados you eat the skin on. In Colorado, I haven’t seen any I’d attempt. But maybe we aren’t getting the same? Love this combo of flavors with the oregano oil. I recently did an oregano pesto that would be perfect for this!
This salad sounds so good! Definitely an excellent use of the bags of little avocados I can’t seem to stop buying & stashing away in the fridge. 🙂
I just got home from a looooong day of middle school drama (teachers and students- I’m the guidance counselor) and Cross Country practice, saw your recipe post, and realized two things- I have every single ingredient and am so inspired to make yet another recipe by you (I think I’ve tried almost everything)! Best feeling! I love what you do! Thanks Heidi!
Simply beautiful!
This is a lovely dish, but I have to find out how you’re getting to Mexico City in an hour from SFO when it takes over three hours from LAX? If I don’t say anything, it’ll bug me all day ; )
One more vote for a favorites of Mexico City post ! I just booked my flight this morning for a trip in November. Excited to experience the food, art, and chaotic allure of DF myself!
I, too, love avocados and am printing this recipe out to make it this week … as soon as I can buy some avocados and they ripen enough to use (I’m in Canada)! I’m always looking for new ways to use lentils and I can tell that this recipe is a winner! Thank you sooooo much.
In East Kentucky, it’s difficult to find avocados, but next city trip I’m going to get some and try this. Great combination and simple technique make it a go-to summer lunch. Thanks!
I saw these avocados recently in the Mission district in SF! I had never seen tiny avocados before, and I was taken by how adorable they are.
HS: Oh REALLY!? Thanks for the heads up Michelle – I’ll keep my eyes peeled!
Glad to read that you like Mexico City. It is my hometown, but sometimes people talk more about the negative things than the positive and good things of DF. Your recipe looks amazing! And you are completely right, the aguacate criollo has better texture, better flavor and higher oil content compare to the Hass variety. But because their skin is really thin it is difficult to export them.
I could eat an avocado everyday! This looks delicious! Thank you for your beautiful posts and delicious recipes!
Please do put a city guide together, if you can! Mexico is near the top of our “to visit” list and it would be lovely to see your take on it.
You sliced the avocado so thinly! Love it.
I LOVE the way the avocados are sliced so thin! Gawgeous.
And the photography makes me cry. The sexy kind.
This salad is straight up gorgeous! Love it!
This looks SO tasty. And summery. But filling. Winner all round! xo
That avocado salad looks so lovely! Now that I’ve moved from the U.S. to Ireland I don’t see many avocados. Must keep my eyes peeled for them, probably from Spain.
I love using herby flowers in salads – the purple chive blossoms make this simple dish extra special 🙂
Adding my voice to the pleas for a city guide – I’m going to Mexico City for work later this year and should have a free weekend to explore and I’d love to know what you recommend. I’m excited now especially about all the avocados I will get to consume – a real treat when you’re coming from the UK!
Your trip to mexico looks so eventful, I could only dream of going to places like this. Thankfully you take such wonderful images so we can share your experience. I hope you learnt lots of new thing to share with us.
I love your lentil salad, SO healthy but not in a try hard way. Always good!
I think I love the food and colours most about mexican culture! Your trip looked lovely and this salad looks divine. I cannot get enough of avocados! Yum!
I love avocados! Never heard of the pink ones, never been to Mexico either! The salad looks delicious and so healthy.
such an easy peasy salad….and looks delicious.
When I was a teenager I lived in Africa…and avocados were everywhere, so cheap and plentiful. Did I like them? No! Now, when I absolutely adore them…they’re quite expensive here in the UK. It’s what’s called sod’s law…
This salad looks just like the types of salads I make myself for lunch when I’m at home working. So simple, so delicious. Those little avocados sound divine and the pictures from your trip have such a dreamy quality to them. I love how traveling to new places inspires me to create new things in the kitchen. Sometimes, we need to step away from our comfort zone for a little bit to fall in love again with the simple ingredients and be adventurous again with new ingredients. xo Renee
Your salad looks awesome and I went to Mexico City 2 yrs ago with Penny de los Santos a photographer who does lots of work with Saveur and a small tour group she hosted. It was a whirlwind and an eye-opener. I had NO idea how HUGE it was….or the things I would see. I’m glad you love it and feel inspired upon returning!
HS: LOVE Penny! And what a treat to be able to spend time in the DF with her!
great photos! i can’t wait until i visit mexico city, i’ve heard lots of great things about it and i’ll make sure to keep an eye out for the avocados.
Have your avocados been as small as mine? They are super tiny this year due to the drought so every time I see a sizable one I snatch it up! Lovely recipe.
Those avocados are so cute! I’ve never had avocado skins before—I wonder what they taste like. The salad looks simple and so summery.
Such lovely photos of your trip – the mood seems so delicate and wonderful. And this salad looks delicious – I love the combination of lentils, chives and hazelnuts. Throwing in some avocado perfects it!
Oo those avocados from Mexico sound delightful! And this salad looks very tasty. I love avocados!
I loved the pictures from your trip. I can imagine how inspired you must be when you return from Mexico City! I will try this recipe. For years in southeast Asia, avocados were a little expensive and not so great, so on principle I did not buy them. I pined over them and dreamt of all the ways I would eat them when I returned to the US.
This looks like such a wonderful lunch – I’m totally inspired to pick up some avocados next time I’m at the market.
Beautiful combination – all of it. I can only imagine the allure of Mexico City, your post offers a wonderful taste. Thank you for sharing.
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