This avocado salad recipe is healthy and delicious, simple to make and one of my favorite lunches. It combines monounsaturated fatty acid rich avocado with wild salmon for protein and omega-3, pumpkin seeds packed with minerals, high vitamin arugula and several other healthy foods into an highly nutritious meal.
Due to the low carbohydrates, high protein and beneficial fats in this salmon and avocado salad, it should satisfy your hunger for much longer than the usual sandwiches, pasta or rice dishes that many people have for lunch.
Eating meals like this can really help avoid that afternoon energy slump that leads to unhealthy snacking, or late night cravings. Because of this, despite the relatively high fat content, it is actually an excellent meal for anyone wanting to lose weight. Much more on why avocado is so good for weight loss and its many other health benefits here.
Several of the ingredients below could be swapped or left out if you choose, but I thought I’d share the ‘ultimate’ salmon and avocado salad recipe and let you decide what you’d like to add from there. I will say though, it’s worth making up the recipe with all of these different ingredients if you have them as the combination of flavors goes really well.
Ingredients for Two
- Around three ounces of fresh wild salmon, sliced lengthways half an inch or less wide. Salmon caught in the wild is far superior to farmed salmon in its fatty acid profile. It’s usually a bit more, but it’s worth it.
- Half a large or a whole small avocado, deseeded and sliced into slivers or diced.
- Two platefuls of arugula or mixed organic salad leaves. Spinach, watercress and other stronger flavored greens go well here too but arugula is perfect for this avocado salad recipe and is a very nutrient rich green. Try to get organic if you can, or soak the leaves in warm water and a splash of apple cider vinegar for a few minutes to get as much pesticide residue off as possible. Leafy green vegetables like this make an incredibly healthy base for a weight loss meal compared to the usual high carbohydrate grain based alternatives.
- A quarter of a cup of raw pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin seeds have a nutty flavor and are high in minerals like magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc. They also add extra protein and contain substances that may help moderate high DHT levels that can lead to hair loss and prostate problems in men
- Two shiitake or similar mushrooms sliced.
- A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved (carefully on a chopping board and away from you as they can squirt seeds everywhere).
- Two spring onions or half a small onion, well chopped.
- Two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.
- One or two cloves of crushed garlic.
- One tablespoon of virgin coconut oil.
- A small finely chopped chili or chili flakes if you enjoy it.
- Himalayan crystal salt and cracked black pepper to taste.
How to Make Wild Salmon and Avocado Salad
Start by melting the coconut oil in a small frying pan on a moderately low heat. Add the spring onions or diced onion, shake to coat the onion with the coconut oil and place a lid over the frying pan if you have one to cook them more quickly on a lower heat.
While they are cooking, drain your washed salad leaves and spread them out onto your plates. Top the salad leaves with your diced avocado and with each plate drizzle a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice over the avocado, then sprinkle it with crystal salt and cracked black pepper. Also add the halved cherry tomatoes and lightly toss.
Add the pumpkin seeds to the onion in the frying pan and swirl to coat them with the coconut oil. Over the top of these add your wild salmon slices, mushrooms, crushed garlic and optional chili. Stir to mix all the ingredients, making sure the salmon is spread out a little. Then replace the lid, keeping your hotplate on quite a low heat so that your salmon and pumpkin seeds are more gently cooking rather than heavily frying in the pan.
Both the salmon and pumpkin seeds are better lightly rather than heavily cooked and a lower heat will help retain more nutrients. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking, replacing the lid afterwards. It should only take around a minute for the garlic and chili coated salmon slivers to turn to a just cooked pink and be ready.
Divide the mixture between the two plates, sharing out the garlic infused coconut oil over the top which acts as a healthy dressing. Gently toss again to mix the pumpkin seeds and salmon with the avocado and arugula salad leaves and serve immediately. I hope you enjoy it.
