Paleo Avocado & Tomato Salad

My favorite food of all time is Mexican food. You have a burrito?  Okay, I'd love one!  Oh what's that you say?  It's deep fried into a Chimichanga? Okay, I'll take 3!

But since adopting a new style of eating, Mexican food is but a thing of the past for the most part.  But I still yearn for some of those flavors.  It was here that I sort of started making this un-smooshed, slightly deconstructed, guacamole as a side salad to accompany my lean meats. 

It's delicious and THUPER easy to make. 

This salad serves 2, or if no one is looking, just YOU!

Step 1 Gather your weapons

You can really add whatever spices and flavorings you like.  If you are practicing Paleo like I am, you will want to avoid salt as much as possible, so I like to substitute with lots of spices, or when I'm exceptionally lazy, I use "salt-free" Mrs. Dash.  I like to keep all natural sea salt for emergencies, however refrain from using as much as possible.

So For the core of this salad, I use the following:

1 Med-Lg Avocado
About a 1cu to 1.5cu of cherry or grape tomatoes.
1 Jalapeno Pepper
Lemon Juice (or lime juice)
Cilantro
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Red Onion

Some other good spices to use: chili flakes, cayenne pepper, garlic....whatever you like!

Comments

[suayres]

Oops! Now that I went & looked up the paleo diet, I see that beans are no-nos. Itpays to find out these things BEFORE opening oral orifice & inserting pedal appendage. Sorry 'bout that. I don't think I could handle a legume-less diet, myself. For one thing, I'm on a very high fiber diet & beans are very important components to this. Please disregard my uninformed comment. Your recipes look delicious, btw!

[angelabchua]

hahha no worries! The recipe is tagged Vegetarian, so i can see the confusion. Yes, i love hummus and beans, so at first it was really tough for me. but in 3 months, I lost 28 lbs from changing up my diet so, im pretty excited about that.

[suayres]

I'm puzzled as to why you feel being vegetarian means little-to-no Mexican food. If you consider that the staples of the Mexican peasant diet are beans & corn, it's pretty clear that a vege lover can get plenty to eat without ever visiting the area of animal protein (with the possible exception of cheese). What say you?

[angelabchua]

I'm not a vegetarian. I'm eating Paleo, which eliminates beans, corn, and gluten from my diet.... those are the things i love. I think you mis read my i'ble.

[makalove]

If you rub a small amount of oil into your hands before chopping the pepper, its oils will be less likely to burn your skin and also will be easier to wash off. If you do get pepper oils on your skin, remember that oil cuts oil - you can rub olive or other cooking oil into your hands and then wash your hands with soap, and both the spicy oils and the olive oil will wash away.

[sheepguy42]

I find it both hilarious and awesome that the first recipes on here I've seen labeled "paleo" were both vegan. I know a number of people have tried to reconcile paleo dieting with vegan ethics, with reasonable success. I'm just surprised to see meatless paleo recipes on Instructables so soon.

[BtheBike]

our ancestors guts could burn up many of the worms and germs in raw meats . Our gut soup is so weak today ,they'd have a field day in there . =) In the interim of getting our hydrochloric acid back up to Caveman level, the vegan half of 'paleo' is a good sub .

[canida]

You should add some squid!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Squid-Salad-with-Blood-Orange-and-Avocado/

[Gekko8]

NUM NUM!...Vegan Power! HAHAHA

[ProteusOne]

Definitely NOT Paleo, but none-the-less a great recipe.

[javajunkie1976]

If you want to add a salty taste without using salt, look for herbs that have it naturally like ransoms or sea kelp. The kelp is available in whole leaf, granules or powder. Don't be afraid to ask your local, well-stocked greenhouse or nursery what you're looking for, they just might be able to help. I also contacted the Smithsonian's National Horticultural Gardens and they provided a ton of stuff.

[angelabchua]

oh cool! Thanks for the tip. Thankfully I live in an area that has a lot of quirky organic, all natural stores that sell off kilter or hard to find specialty items. I will look into this!

[rybokc1]

How much cilantro do you use? I'm assuming that's all dependable on the person's taste maybe (or does it even matter)?

Also, I know this is posted under the vegan category *lol* but have you, or others you know, tried this with any types of meat (top sirloin cuts, chicken breast, etc)?

[angelabchua]

I looove cilantro, so I use a nice chunk... probably close to 3 tablespoons chopped worth. Use per your liking.

I'm not vegan, but this happens to be vegan. I'm very much a meat-a-saurus. I haven't tried this with meat, but I bet it would taste awesome mixed with like grilled shrimp or chicken. If you try it, let me know how that goes!

[Ximena]

your instructable is really nice!!
But I'm sorry to disappoint you. What you are describing is traditional mexican guacamole (we use white onion instead of red, and no olive oil of course). It is only smooshed sometimes, people prepare it both ways.
But as delicious as always!

[angelabchua]

Thanks for the reply... not a disappointment at all! I LOVE guacamole, and I was always under the impression that if it wasn't smooshed, it wasn't guac. Good to know! Thanks!

[ribbz]

sounds like a tasty alternative/ side item

[angelabchua]

It is delish... if I could, I'd eat this like everyday. My boyfriend likes to mash it up and then eat it with chips (ta da! it's guac now!). Then I sit from a distance and glare at him as he shovels those salty triangle pieces of perfection into his mouth.

[frenzy]

You're making me hungry....

[angelabchua]

that's funny, because you are making ME hungry!

[Cpt. Caleb]

AWESOME!! another Paleo 'Ible! I love it. looks and sounds delicious, I cannot wait to make it.

[angelabchua]

Thanks! There will be plenty more "paleo friendly" recipes to come! My boyfriend just made me some awesome paleo cupcakes for valentines day. Can't wait to post that!