Are you looking for a healthy
side dish to complete your meal? This avocado salad is a real
crowd-pleaser that's easy to make Plus you're going to love the cilantro-lime
dressing that brings it all together I prefer to use Hass avocados they
are widely available in most markets, they have a soft and creamy texture, and they
hold their shape well when mixed in the salad When selecting the fruit there's a few things
you can do to check to see if it's ripe The first is to remove the
stem, if it's still intact, if it's green underneath that means it's
ripe if it's brown then it might be overripe The next thing you can do is place it in the
palm of your hand and give it a gentle squeeze, it should feel firm with just a slight
give there should be no mushy soft spots For this recipe we need about 3 to 4 large
avocados these are about 8 to 9 ounces in size To cut the fruit the first thing is to
remove the stem if you haven't already, place the avocado on the board Cut it lengthwise until it hits the pit and
then just turn until you reach the other side Twist it to separate it into two halves To remove the pit you can take the blade of the
knife and then just give it a light tap and turn See how easy it came out Hold your fingers like this
and pinch to remove the pit We want to cut the flesh into
large chunks about 3/4-inch in size to do that just run the blade down the
fruit lengthwise turn and cut into dices I like to keep the pieces nice and chunky so that
they don't break down too much while I'm mixing Use a spoon and just scoop out the flesh I'm going to cut the remaining
avocados we need 3 cups Once cut the flesh is prone to oxidation which
means it's going to turn from bright green to brown if exposed to the air for too long So I'm going to cover the bowl with
some plastic wrap or you could use foil Now I'm going to prepare the other ingredients To create a colorful and flavorful
salad I like to add a variety of mix-ins to give contrasting tastes and textures You start by cutting an English
cucumber, cut off the ends, and then because it's really long in size
I'll cut it down into about three portions English cucumbers have a really nice
thin skin so we don't have to remove it and they have really small seeds
so you don't have to scoop them out Slice in half, cut into quarters, line them up, and slice into
1/4-inch thick pieces, we need 2 cups Radishes add a really interesting
peppery taste and crispiness to the salad just remove the leaves by trimming it off They have this long root
end so trim that off as well Cut them in half lengthwise, hold
your fingers in the claw again, and you're gonna make really small cuts
into 1/8-inch thick strips, we need 1/2 cup Cherry tomatoes are going to add a nice sweetness
to the salad cut them in half into sized pieces You can also use Campari or plum
tomatoes but for those varieties, since they're larger I would
remove the seeds, we need 2 cups Red onions are going to add some pungency Trim off the top and the root end making sure that
this portion is intact cut in half lengthwise, peel off the skin I want them to be about
1-inch long pieces just cut down lengthwise then cut into
thin 1/8-inch thick strips I like these smaller pieces because we don't want
the onions to be overpowering we need 1/2 cup Now for a little heat, I have a jalapeno
pepper cut off the top, slice in half lengthwise, now be really careful to
not touch the inside of the pepper I could already smell the heat The capsaicin or the spicy
molecules are in the seeds and then this membrane in the middle
carefully use the tip of the knife to remove If you like a spicier salad you could
definitely keep some of the seeds in but we'll keep it mild for now Slice into thin strips, line them
up, and chop into fine pieces You could also use serrano peppers or some
red Thai chilies for even a spicier kick, we need 2 teaspoons The fruits and vegetables are prepped I'm going
to add it to the bowl with the cut avocados Remove the plastic wrap and I'm going to save
this because I'm going to add it on later Add 2 cups of cucumbers, 2 cups of the sliced
tomatoes, 1/2 cup of the sliced radish, 1/2 cup of sliced red onion, and 2
teaspoons of chopped jalapeno pepper Cover the bowl and set it aside To make the dressing I'm going
to prep some fresh ingredients The limes are going to add this acidity
and tartness to the dressing but I always zest it first, the peel, oh
it smells so good already the peel has these citrus oils that are going to
infuse into the dressing so I never leave it out, we need 1 teaspoon Cut the lime in half we're
going to need two of these Use your handy juicer and
squeeze out the juice this is not only going to add acidity but
it also contains ascorbic acid which is going to reduce the rate
of browning on those avocados keeping the flesh nice and
bright green, we need 1/4 cup Some cilantro is going to add a nice herbaceous note to the dressing and it
complements the lime really well This has been washed grab the
bunch like this holding the stems and then just use the blade to cut off the leaves and then you can just pick off any
stems from the leaves if you see any I know that some people are not a fan of
cilantro so you can use parsley or basil instead Gather the leaves into a pile
and use the fanning motion to rock and chop just run the blade back
and forth until you have small fine pieces We need 2 tablespoons, I like to chop
a little extra for garnish as well Fresh garlic is going to add a little
bit of a bite to the salad dressing trim off the ends of both sides and then smash This makes it easier to peel
just slice to thin pieces Then use the rocking motion to mince, chop this up as fine as possible we don't want to
have big chunks in your teeth, we need 1 teaspoon Add 1 teaspoon of lime zest, 1/4 cup
of lime juice, 2 tablespoons of honey this is going to add a nice sweetness but
you could also use maple syrup if you'd like 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro, 1 tablespoon of
apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of
kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper We're going to whisk this all together until the
sugars are dissolved as well as the seasonings Having the Dijon mustard and the honey
in here now act as light emulsifiers so it's going to keep the dressing more
stable preventing it from separating I use 1/2 cup of avocado
oil because it complements the fruits and the vegetables really nicely
however you could use a light olive oil The key is to slowly add the oil
while constantly whisking we want to break up the fat into small droplets and this
is going to give a nicely thickened emulsion You don't want to rush this process, if you do it's going to start to separate and you'll
end up with a really greasy dressing This would also make a really good marinade for chicken or shrimp this looks good
it's time to bring everything together The last step is to drizzle the salad dressing over the ingredients toss
everything until it's combined You'll notice that some of the avocados
start to break down a little bit creating a creamy coating but don't over
mix we want those nice big chunks still I recommend serving this right
away for the best taste and texture or you can cover it and store in
a refrigerator for up to one day For the final topping I just add a
little bit more cilantro for garnish If you're an avocado fan and looking for
more recipes give my guacamole recipe a try right here it's a great appetizer to
serve with some crunchy tortilla chips I hope you enjoyed learning the
science behind avocado salad and if you did please give it a big
thumbs up it means a lot when you do See you in the next video Oh this is going to be good
