his summery salad makes the most of fresh produce with an arugula base, fresh blackberries, blueberries, cucumber, avocado, hazelnuts, feta and a lime mint vinaigrette.
If you haven’t tried putting berries in a salad before, you’re really missing out. They add pops of texture and just the right amount of sweetness. Blackberries and blueberries pair particularly well with refreshing cucumbers, creamy avocado and zesty arugula.
This is the perfect salad to enjoy all summer long because it’s easy to make, packed with summer fruit, and is super refreshing on a hot day.
You can also add a grilled protein (tofu, chicken or shrimp), beans (white beans or chickpeas) or a grain (quinoa, wild rice) for a more filling meal.
For the salad:
- Arugula: baby arugula is the perfect choice for this salad.
- Blackberries and Blueberries: use both, or one or the other.
- Cucumber: we used mini cucumbers, which are super crunchy, and thinly sliced them into rounds. You can also make ribbons with a peeler.
- Avocado: the riper, the better! We sliced them in this salad, but you can also dice them to distribute them better.
- Feta: Any kind will work in this recipe! You can also use vegan feta to keep this recipe dairy free.
- Hazelnuts: chopped, toasted or un-toasted.
- For the lime mint vinaigrette:
- Olive oil: Extra virgin will have the best flavor.
- Lime juice: be sure to use freshly squeezed.
- Mint: We used fresh, not dried mint in this recipe.
- Salt and pepper: Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper for seasoniong.
- Sweetener: you can use maple syrup, agave, or honey.
How to make this Blackberry, Avocado and Arugula Salad - It’s so easy, you don’t even really need instructions, but here they are:
- STEP 1: Whisk together all the ingredients for the vinaigrette.
- STEP 2: Add all of the ingredients to a bowl, pour vinaigrette over, and toss. Enjoy!
- Substitutions and Variations
- Arugula: Feel free to substitute with spinach, baby kale, or another leafy green.
- Blackberries and blueberries can be swapped with strawberries, raspberries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, or just about any other summer fruit.
- Not a fan of hazelnuts? Try swapping with pine nuts, pistachios or pecans.
- What to Serve with this Blackberry, Avocado and Arugula Salad:
- To turn this blackberry avocado arugula salad into a meal: add a protein and/or grain. Cooked quinoa or wild rice both make fantastic additions.
I also love adding white beans for a bit of extra plant-based protein. I let them marinade in a few tablespoons of the vinaigrette to soak up extra flavor. You could also top with grilled tofu, or chicken, shrimp or steak. - Storage
- You can make this salad and the dressing ahead of time, just make sure to keep them separate if you are storing for longer than a day or two, or else the salad will be too soggy.
- Once dressed, this salad can be kept in an airtight container but should be eaten the next day
