I have a confession to make. In spite of the fact that I am blessed to live in a state with a long and lovely growing season (Zone 7A representing!) I will never be able to be a true locavore. Why? Avocados. I don’t want to live in a world without avocados.
In my defense, I came to avocados in my late 30s and I regret every day of my life that I didn’t eat one. If only I had known! Oh the avocados I would have eaten! But instead of looking back, I try to eat as many avocados as I can every summer.
This salad is one of my very favorite ways to eat avocados. It is packed with all the good things of summer and it’s madly healthy. It’s also made entirely on the grill, so your air conditioner doesn’t have to work overtime.
There are a couple of tricks to making this salad. You’ll need avocados and peaches that are just barely ripe. If either are mushy, you will end up with a salad that may taste nice but won’t be very pretty. The other trick is that you need to have everything ready before you start grilling, so the your avocados don’t lose any of their lovely color while you’re fumbling around making the dressing.
First light your grill to get it preheated. I preheat on high and then turn the gas down to low.
Next make your vinaigrette by combining lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, a smashed garlic clove, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Dice half a medium red onion finely and set aside. Put one ear of fresh corn, shucked, on the grill. Check it every couple of minutes, turning until the corn is lightly charred on all sides. Let the corn cool and then cut it off the cob. Combine the corn, red onion and vinaigrette.
Now we’re ready to grill. Take a chef’s knife out to the grill, along with a small bowl of olive oil and a brush, one avocado and one peach per person you will be serving. Cut the avocados in half the long way, remove the pit and brush both exposed halves with olive oil. Place on the grill cut side and allow to cook for five minutes.
Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit. Some peach pits are harder than others to remove. I find that a grapefruit spoon can help to get the stubborn ones out. Brush both exposed halves with olive oil and place on the grill, cut side down. When you can move the peaches without resistance (sticking to the grill) flip them over and cook with the skin side down.
Remove avocados and peaches from the grilled to an awaiting platter. Using a large spoon, carefully remove the avocados from their skin. Drizzle everything with the vinaigrette, filling the avocado cavities with the red onion and grilled corn.
I could eat this every night of summer and never get tired of it. So, so perfect.
