Avocado Tomato Salad – A perfect summer salad
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This refreshing avocado tomato salad is the perfect dish to enjoy on a warm summer evening…not that we are getting many of those at the moment, here in Northern Europe…but we can dream!
Let’s say it’s an aspirational summer avocado salad!
Anyway, it’s pretty irresistible – the creamy avocado is nicely offset by sweet juicy tomatoes, sharp balsamic vinegar and spicy rocket leaves, while a sprinkle of toasted sunflower seeds adds a rich nuttiness and a nice bit of crunch.
So if you’ve been looking for a vegan avocado salad, look no further, this is it!
What’s more, we’d say that as far as vegan salad recipes for weight loss go, this is a pretty great option.
‘But avocados are full of fat!’ You cry, ‘How can they possibly be good for weight loss!?”
Let us explain…
Avocado tomato salad: why fat is fab!
The lovely avocado is an incredible fruit that comes with a whole host of health benefits, making this vegan avocado salad recipe a super healthy, weight loss friendly lunch or dinner option (if this all sounds good to you, we’ve got more like this in our vegan protein salads list!).
So what’s so great about them? Avocados have a very high fibre and fat content. This recipe calls for one medium avocado – that’s 9g fibre and 21g fat.
People tend to think that foods with a high fat content are bad if you are trying to lose weight.
However, that’s a bit of a myth, it depends on what type of fat, and exactly how much of it.
In actual fact, fat is a super important part of your diet and fat is actively beneficial to healthy weight loss.
The fat in avocados is unsaturated, which is the healthy kind of fat, used to help the body absorb all the good stuff from the food you eat.
Furthermore, because the energy from fat is released slowly in your stomach, a vegan salad with avocado in it will provide a sustained release of energy for far longer than one that is just leaves.
Combined with the high fibre content of avocados, this salad is super filling and the perfect way to avoid snacking on empty calories between meals.
It’s really a case of making the most of the calories you eat – and an avocado tomato salad does just that.
If you still aren’t convinced, have a look at our article on avocados and weight loss, which looks at this question more in depth.
Subscribe to get our FREE 7-Day Vegetarian High Protein Meal Plan for Weight Loss
Teaming up with tomatoes
Another great thing about the avocado in this tomato avocado salad recipe is how it interacts with the other ingredients to maximise health benefits.
For example, tomatoes are a fantastic fruit and contain lycopene, an antioxidant that may help to protect cells and therefore boost your immune system, among other things.
That’s amazing of course, but it’s important to know they won’t work properly without some kind of fat to help absorb them.
Tomato carries very little fat of its own – that’s where avocados step up. Thanks again to all that unsaturated fat, your body is able to absorb the lycopene in tomatoes.
So when combined in an avocado tomato salad, you can be sure you’re getting all the goodness your food is packing.
Who said fat was bad for you? 😛
If you want to learn more info like this about weight loss as a vegetarian, check out our Vegetarian for Weight Loss e-book ! It’s been downloaded 6000 times already, so we reckon it’s doing the trick!
What our readers are saying
Simple, easy and delicious. Perfect!
Mel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Perfect, light and heart-healthy! Good job…
Krystallia Giamouridou
I could eat this salad everyday! Thanks for sharing.
Michelle@healthiersteps
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 2 big handfuls arugula/rocket (You could also use any leafy greens that you prefer – about 100-150g = 2 handfuls)
- 1 large avocado (1 large avocados = 2 small avocados)
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- ½ lemon (juiced)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic cream (or balsamic vinegar)
Optional
- 2 slice wholegrain bread (eg. whole grain toast)
Instructions
- Put the sunflower seeds in a saucepan over a low heat. They only need 3 or 4 mins, don’t forget about them!4 tbsp sunflower seeds
- While they’re toasting grab the arugula, give it a quick rinse and pat or drain dry.2 big handfuls arugula/rocket
- Slice the avocado(s) open, remove the stone, and scoop out the flesh. Cut it into little chunks, roughly 2cm each. Drip the lemon juice and a bit of salt and pepper onto the chunks.1 large avocado, ½ lemon, Salt and pepper to taste
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.8 cherry tomatoes
- The seeds should be done by now, time to serve.
- Layer the rocket into a wide bowl, followed by the tomatoes and avocados. Sprinkle the seeds over the bowls next. Add a little more salt and pepper, drizzle the oil then balsamic cream/vinegar over the top and…..you’re done!1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp balsamic cream
- Enjoy your delicious vegan salad 🙂
- Optional: Serve with a slice or two of whole grain toast if that’s what you fancy.2 slice wholegrain bread
Who could resist a bowl of something like THIS?! Vegetarian or otherwise, this avocado salad looks entirely healthful and inviting. What a great site you’ve put together, congrats to you all on your efforts and hard work it is impressive and inspiring, all in one!
Thanks a lot for your props, Dan!! We really appreciate it! Yep, it takes a little effort (as you know, haha), but luckily food blogging is a lot of fun as well! 🙂
This salad does look so refreshing! I am not a huge fan of sunflower seeds but I’m guessing it would still be fab with pine nuts as a substitution!
Of course!! But pine nuts are the rich womans substitution ;-)))
I have them every now and then though, since they are worth their money!!
OMG its so healthy at the same time yummy. A very good option for vegetarians like me. Very nice blog. Bookmarking 🙂
Great to hear you like the recipe manju! 🙂
Great looking salad! I love avocados and could eat them all the time. <3 Now I want to eat this salad. Right now!
I have a tonne of cherry toms from the garden… guess this salad will be made soon!
yaay!! Plus those tomatoes taste much better than the store bought ones 🙂