Avocado Pomegranate Salad with Cilantro-Lime Crema

Is it the weekend already? These last few days have gone by fast. When you’re crazy busy with school or work or whatever else, it’s easy to let the time fly by. I’ve been taking midterm exams and trying to catch up on readings. It feels like there is rarely any down time.

I think it might be time to hit pause. Do something fun for a change.

This weekend, I’ll be taking a break and treating myself to some healthy and delicious home-cooked food. You can bet that this will be on the list of dishes I make.

This salad is creamy, crunchy, sweet. It’s refreshing. Bright green with a pop of ruby red. Flavorful, but also healthful. It’s vegan, though you can add some sour cream to the dressing if you’d like.

Avocado. Pomegranate. Red onion. Green leaf lettuce. Lime. Jalapeño. Cilantro. Coconut milk.

Meet your flavor-makers. My potted herb garden has been suffering from my repeatedly forgetting to water it. That’s evident here. I only had a few sad, wilted sprigs of cilantro, but if you use the full quarter cup, your dressing will be more strongly flavored and a brighter, punchier green.

The dressing is simple. Just throw a few things into your blender and you’re done!

The dressing, though creamy and tangy and herbal, is not a true crema. It’s really avocado, coconut milk, and lime blended until smooth. If you’d like a true crema, leave out the coconut milk and sub in a good dose of sour cream.

So good.

Trust me, you need this salad in your life.

 

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

For the salad:

• 4-5 large leaves green leaf lettuce, washed and dried
• 1/2 avocado, cubed and tossed in lime juice
• 1/4-1/2 pomegranate
• 1/4 large red onion, thinly sliced

For the dressing:

• 1/2 avocado
• 1-2 limes
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, packed
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper
• coconut milk
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Tear the lettuce into bite-sized pieces and arrange on a plate or in a bowl. Add the avocado cubes, and scatter pomegranate seeds and red onion on top.
2. For the dressing, place the avocado, cilantro, and jalapeño into a blender. Juice one lime and add the juice, careful not to drop any seeds into the blender. Add a few tablespoons coconut milk, and blend. Continue to add coconut milk until the dressing is the desired consistency.
3. Taste the dressing and season to your liking. More lime juice, some salt, and black pepper will cut through the bitterness of the cilantro and the avocado. For more spice, you can add up to an extra half jalapeño.
4. Just before serving, drizzle the salad with the dressing.