Blackberry, Avocado and Walnut Salad with a Ginger Lime Vinaigrette

Lettuce for hostage.

I almost had 3 huge heads of lettuce to go through this week. In addition to my two heads of lettuce, a friend left their lettuce in the fridge by mistake and went home solo. Oops!

I told him I would allow him to have his lettuce, if he would trade it for some blackberries from St Lawrence Market. Earlier, he had taunted me, telling me how small and sweet they were on his last trip.

Surprisingly, he agreed to the ransom! (To be fair, I rescinded a piece of the Raw Key Lime Pie)

So I was back to 2 heads of lettuce. And now blackberries. With avocados from the week before. And walnuts from the pantry. These ingredients, alone, would be a great combination of sweet, creamy and bitter… but then it is drizzled with a sweet ginger lime vinaigrette. I didn’t think it would be so flippin’ fantastic, but it was. Instead of my morning oats, these blackberries are being renewed for another round of this salad! Thanks Matt! 😀 What are you making with your lettuce? 🙂

This is my submission to this month’s Bookmarked Recipes, to this week’s potluck party for fruit dishes, to this week’s Ingredient Challenge Monday for blueberries, to this week’s Summer Salad Sundays, to this week’s Wellness Weekend and to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays.

Blackberry, Avocado and Walnut Salad with a Ginger Lime Vinaigrette
Adapted from Rawmazing

zest and juice from 1 lime (3-4 tbsp lime juice)
1/2 small shallot, minced (1 tsp)
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp hazelnut oil
1 tsp agave, or to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

4 cups lettuce, coarsely ripped
2/3 cup blackberries (blueberries would work well, too!)
1/2 cup avocado (half a small avocado)
1/2 cup walnuts (preferably toasted if you don’t follow an all-raw salad)

1. Whisk together the lime juice, zest, shallot, ginger, oil, agave and salt and pepper. Set aside until ready to dress the salad.

2. Toss together the remainder of the ingredients and drizzle with the dressing.

Serves 2.