You will have twice as much of the pesto as you need. You can cut the pesto amount in half, but I encourage you to make the full recipe. It will disappear quickly on bread, toast, or baked potatoes. This salad is even greater if you use your best olive oil.
Ingredients
Step 1
Prepare the grill and let it burn down to medium hot coals. Squeeze the lemon juice into a nonreactive bowl large enough to hold the avocados in a single layer. Halve the avocados, discard the pits, and scoop out the flesh in one piece with a rounded spoon. Immediately toss the avocados with the lemon juice to prevent discoloration.
Step 2
Using a mandoline or sharp chef's knife, thinly slice the onion. Separate the onion into rings and place in another bowl. Pour some of the lemon juice from the avocados over the onions and season with salt and pepper. Toss well and set aside. Cut the tomatoes lengthwise into thin wedges, season with salt and pepper, and reserve.
Step 3
Remove the avocados from the lemon juice and set the bowl aside. Season the avocados on all sides with salt and pepper and drizzle very lightly with about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Too much and the oil might cause flare-ups.
Step 4
Grill the avocados, cut side down, until the outside edge looks a little dry and browned, about 2 minutes. Turn onto the rounded side and cook for another 2 minutes. Since so little area is exposed to the heat, this is just to soften, not cook, the avocados. If the avocados were very firm, leave on another minute. Do not turn too often or they may disintegrate. Return the grilled avocados to the bowl with the lemon juice. Spoon the lemon juice over them and set aside until cool enough to handle, then cut into thin wedges.
Step 5
Place several onion rings in the center of each salad plate. Arrange the avocados on opposite sides and the tomatoes on the remaining two sides. Drizzle each salad with about 1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon pesto. Season again with salt and pepper to taste and give each salad a coarse grating of cheese. Scatter the pine nuts on top, if using, and serve immediately.
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Reviews (10)
Back to TopTook everyone's advised and skipped the grilling. I added the pine nuts to the pesto as I'll use it on pasta, too. Great salad!
madcat19
London, UK
5/18/2014
I agree with all the cooks that have gone before me and have made this terrific salad sans grillin. I find that Michael always likes to make things more complicated than needs be...let's face it' he has more time than most home cooks! I also want to admit to using pesto from Costco once and it was great! For all of his complications, he always produces recipes that are delish! Thank you for this one! YUM!!!!
canack
Burlington, ON, Canada
8/2/2012
Have served this several times at parties, always to rave reviews. I usually skip grilling the avocados and place them on the salad when ripe. I also use a little more pesto than is recommended. A great salad in the summer when tomatoes are in season.
cliffk
8/31/2010
We really enjoyed this salad alongside grilled beef tenderloin medalliaons. I used fresh basil instead of pesto and heirloom cherry tomatoes in different colors. Very quick and easy. Full of flavor and an elegant salad.
amanda_ca
1/31/2010
Very good recipe. You could easily skip grilling the avocado.
Anonymous
Madison, WI
8/7/2006
We didn't grill the avocados because the grill wasn't working and this salad still turned out great. Also left out 1.5 tblspoons of the oil and the extra parm as the pinenut pesto we made was just the right flavor.
seqc
Portland, Or
6/25/2006
This dish was absolutely delicious-4 forks!!! It rained the day we had planned to grill a bunch of things on our menu so we improvised and made this on a grill pan for starters. The avocados I chose were defintely not as ripe so they stayed together well during the grilling and I took that advise from other reviewers. The taste was exceptional and we arranged the salad on plates to make the presentation even more fun. This is another keeper for my files and we are looking forward to a "nicer" spring and summer this year here in NJ without so much rain so we can try this on the grill!!!
Anonymous
4/30/2005
This recipe was great. I am not one for formal dining so I threw everything in the bowl and gently tossed. It was still awesome.
Kate
New York
3/18/2003
This recipe was very easy, looked great and tasted fabulous. I definitely recommend trying it.
Anonymous
Berkeley, CA
5/24/2001
Very good...and easy. I suggest using very firm avocados or they break down on the grill.
Anonymous
Northern California
5/17/2001
