Garden Salad with Avocado Dressing

A fresh garden salad is the perfect side for the meatloaves in my previous post. This simple garden salad gets a Mexican touch from the creamy avocado dressing.

Garden Salad with Avocado Dressing –

Ensalada con aderezo de aguacate

Printable recipe: Garden Salad with Avocado Dressing

Ingredients

4 green onions
1 head lettuce (such as Romaine or Iceberg)
2 large tomatoes
½ cucumber

Dressing
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp lime juice
¼ cup water
¼ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp black pepper, or to taste
1 avocado
¼ onion (white or sweet, such as Vidalia)
1 clove garlic
½ cup oil (such as safflower, or olive)
Lime wedges, to serve

Prepare dressing: place mayonnaise, lime juice, water, thyme, salt and pepper in a blender jar; slice avocado in half, remove pit and scoop pulp into the jar; peel onion and garlic and add to the jar. Blend for about two minutes, then slowly pour the oil without stopping the blender (photo below, left); process until creamy (photo below, right):

Cover and keep refrigerated until serving time. Wash and dry all the vegetables. Slice green onions thinly and reserve. Cut lettuce leaves into wide ribbons, tomatoes into wedges, and cucumber into slices; arrange in a large bowl. Right before serving, pour dressing over salad and sprinkle with reserved green onions:

Serve with lime wedges on the side, to add more citrus flavour, to taste.

Most of the time, I am all for local and seasonal produce for my cooking, but during winter in Canada, it is nice to mitigate the craving for a fresh salad with tomatoes from Mexico, and other vegetables from Southern US, or from hot houses in milder regions in Canada. Rejecting globalization without considering all sides of the story would offend my intelligence, and even though I truly admire zero-mile and homesteading practices, I do not believe the calumny of trade and global markets as only detrimental to a nation. Just by reviewing history, it seems clear that trading has been one of the key elements for cultural development; true, not always in the best way, but I still think of the balance as positive.

Also, this post is dedicated to all gardeners and cooks in the Southern hemisphere; I hope you find this recipe refreshing during the summer season over there!

I am bringing my recipe to Totally Terrific Tuesday #212 graciously hosted by Sherry @ The Savvy Apron and Nicki @ Sweet Parrish Place