This Mexican-inspired guacamole salad is heart-healthy, gluten-free and vegetarian. It’s both colorful and delicious!
When making Mexican style foods, we often think of rice and/or beans as the obvious side dish. But Ina Garten’s guacamole salad provides a more vibrant, fresh, healthy option. Of course this is a great recipe to serve alongside on of my favorite recipes for enchiladas, tacos and other hearty Mexican inspired meals. However it’s also a wonderful and colorful summer dish to bring to a barbecue that is a refreshing change from pasta or macaroni salad.
This recipe is heart healthy, gluten free, vegetarian, low-carb and simply bursting with flavor. Does it get better than that? YES, it does. This salad is simply beautiful to look at- just look at all those colors! And it can be made in advance!
How to buy Avocados?
According to “Love one today” (A site dedicated to avocados) “The best way to tell if an avocado is ripe is whether it yields to a gentle squeeze in the palm of your hands.” They have the best breakdown on how to choose avocados based on your expected time of use. It’s a very helpful chart! Check it out!
Helpful Tips for Making Ina Garten’s Guacamole Salad:
This recipe doubles well, but be sure to use a big bowl so you can carefully mix everything without smashing the vegetables, especially the beans and avocado.
To make in advance, prep all the vegetables except for the beans and avocado. Make the dressing and store in a mason jar. This can all be refrigerated at this point. When ready to serve, bring everything to room temperature (or close to) and then add the beans and the dressing (be sure to shake it up well first!) and then finally gently fold in the avocado.
Guacamole Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pint grape tomatoes halved
- 1 yellow bell pepper seeded and 1/2-inch diced
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup small diced red onion
- 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno peppers seeded (2 peppers)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice 2 limes
- 1/4 cup good olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 2 ripe Hass avocados seeded, peeled, and 1/2-inch diced
Instructions
- Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers, and lime zest in a large bowl.
- Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well.
- Just before you're ready to serve the salad, gently fold the avocados into the salad. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.
