When Lee and I were first dating, I headed to the Dominican Republic on a medical mission through Medical Ministry International with some friends from work.
It was an amazing experience to be providing health care and teaching and volunteering in such a beautiful country with great people.
Besides the beautiful country and friendly people, there was something else that I fell in love with while I was in the Dominican Republic: an avocado salad.
I know, sounds silly, but everyday at the kitchen at the MMI's headquarters, they'd serve us this avocado salad, and my mind was blown at how amazing it was. It usually had avocado and tomatoes, and occasionally an onion.
The thing that I couldn't figure out from the kitchen staff because of the language barrier, was what they put on it, the dressing.
I have been searching for a recipe for years, but no luck.
So I thought I'd give it a try. I grabbed several avocados, half a red onion, a cucumber, and some tomatoes from the store and from our garden.
I chopped and diced up all the ingredients pretty quickly. Now onto the dressing--the elusive dressing. I figured some olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, kosher salt, and lime juice.
I added the dressing and gave the salad a quick, gentle toss and crossed my fingers that it would be close to what I had in the DR.
And it was!
Wahoo!
The dressing was so good that I used a slice of crusty bread to sop up the dressing in the bottom of my bowl. Delish!
I'm sure my recipe is still off a little from what I ate in the DR, but this is pretty close. If you've had an avocado salad in the Dominican Republic, I'd love to hear how I can make my recipe better!
Dominican Avocado Tomato Salad
4-6 servings
4-5 tomatoes, cubed
1/4 red onion, diced finely
1 cucumber, sliced and cut in half pieces
4 to 5 avocados, cubed
Juice from 1 lime
4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt to taste
Except for the avocados and lime juice, combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss together.
In a separate bowl, squeeze the lime juice over the avocados until you are ready to serve. When you are ready to serve, then top the salad with the avocados and maybe do a light and very gentle toss.
(Real talk: If you toss the avocados in too early with everything else and handle it too much, then the avocados will break apart and your salad will not be as beautiful. Believe me, the first couple of times I tossed everything together, my salad was pretty pathetic looking.)
Serve with a crusty bread for dipping. Enjoy!
 |
| Singing a song with the locals and the team |
It was an amazing experience to be providing health care and teaching and volunteering in such a beautiful country with great people.
 |
| MMI team! |
Besides the beautiful country and friendly people, there was something else that I fell in love with while I was in the Dominican Republic: an avocado salad.
I know, sounds silly, but everyday at the kitchen at the MMI's headquarters, they'd serve us this avocado salad, and my mind was blown at how amazing it was. It usually had avocado and tomatoes, and occasionally an onion.
The thing that I couldn't figure out from the kitchen staff because of the language barrier, was what they put on it, the dressing.
I have been searching for a recipe for years, but no luck.
So I thought I'd give it a try. I grabbed several avocados, half a red onion, a cucumber, and some tomatoes from the store and from our garden.
 |
| Ingredients for an Avocado Tomato Salad |
I chopped and diced up all the ingredients pretty quickly. Now onto the dressing--the elusive dressing. I figured some olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, kosher salt, and lime juice.
 |
| Chopped up ingredients before seasoning |
I added the dressing and gave the salad a quick, gentle toss and crossed my fingers that it would be close to what I had in the DR.
And it was!
Wahoo!
 |
| Eureka--a similar Dominican avocado salad recipe discovered! |
The dressing was so good that I used a slice of crusty bread to sop up the dressing in the bottom of my bowl. Delish!
I'm sure my recipe is still off a little from what I ate in the DR, but this is pretty close. If you've had an avocado salad in the Dominican Republic, I'd love to hear how I can make my recipe better!
Dominican Avocado Tomato Salad
4-6 servings
4-5 tomatoes, cubed
1/4 red onion, diced finely
1 cucumber, sliced and cut in half pieces
4 to 5 avocados, cubed
Juice from 1 lime
4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt to taste
Except for the avocados and lime juice, combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss together.
In a separate bowl, squeeze the lime juice over the avocados until you are ready to serve. When you are ready to serve, then top the salad with the avocados and maybe do a light and very gentle toss.
(Real talk: If you toss the avocados in too early with everything else and handle it too much, then the avocados will break apart and your salad will not be as beautiful. Believe me, the first couple of times I tossed everything together, my salad was pretty pathetic looking.)
Serve with a crusty bread for dipping. Enjoy!
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