Avocado is so rich and creamy that all it needs is a little acidity to become a “salad.” This sweet and sour dressing, almost a ginger syrup, really does the trick.  And for a more substantial salad, eliminate the cilantro sprigs and put the avocados on a bed of watercress before dressing.

ingredients

  • cup rice vinegar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • Salt
  • 2 tablespoons minced or grated peeled fresh ginger
  • Several sprigs cilantro for garnish
  • 2 medium or large avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced
  • ¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts, salted or unsalted for garnish

directions

1. Put the vinegar, sugar, a pinch of salt, and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Add the ginger and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, as the dressing bubbles gently and thickens, about 5 minutes. When it gets noticeably syrupy, remove from the heat, cool, cover tightly or put in a jar, and refrigerate until very cold, at least an hour or so. (The dressing may be made ahead to this point and used up to 2 days later.)
2. To serve, put a few cilantro sprigs on individual salad plates or a small platter. Overlap the avocado slices on top. Drizzle each with the ginger dressing and garnish with a sprinkle of peanuts and salt if you like.

Categories

Vegetarian, Vegetarian Dishes

MacGourmet downloadAvocado Salad with Ginger and Peanuts. To import, drag image to your MacGourmet recipe box.

source

Mark Bittman

servings/yield

4 servings

rating

difficulty

course

Salad