A very simple salad— butter lettuce and creamy avocado slices in a bright and pretty quick-pickle onion vinaigrette.
The vinaigrette is also great on avocado toast.
Ingredients:
For the salad:
1 handful of butter lettuce per person
1/2 an avocado per person
For the vinaigrette:
1/2 a small red onion 1 + 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar or lemon juice
3 Tablespoons olive oil + more for drizzling
Slice your onions carefully on a mandolin or dice them by hand.
(The shape is really up to you. I like a "lazy" dice- nothing too precise but more bite sized and confetti like- for this, but thinly sliced is nice too.)
Sprinkle the sliced onions with 1 + 1/2 teaspoons of salt and rub the salt into the onions.
Let the onions rest for 10 minutes.
Cover the salted onions with medium warm water, so not quite boiling but not room temp.
Let them rest in the water for 10 minutes.
Drain the onions, rinse them in cold water, and place them in a small bowl.
Sprinkle them with a pinch of salt (about 1/8 teaspoon).
Add the vinegar or lemon juice, and let them rest until the onions turn a little pink, about 10 minutes. Add the oil, stir, and taste.
Does it need more salt? A dash more of acid? Adjust it to your taste!
Serve this salad in a platter or large plate, and slice the avocado shortly before serving.
Very lightly toss whole leaves of butter lettuce with a little olive oil and the lightest sprinkling of salt, like a whisper of salt. Make a bed of lettuce leaves on your plate and tuck avocado wedges between the leaves. Spoon the vinaigrette over the avocado layers, which will looks super pretty.
Everything will get tossed as you serve it.