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Loaded Caprese Avocado Salad

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I mean who doesn’t love a salad with tons of avos? I think you can never add enough so meet your new best friend.

Here the classic Caprese meets a loaded avocado salad and I have drizzled pesto over it to create a dish that will make your mouth water.

And the salty Kalamata olives with baby mozzarella balls marry together to create a combo that is simply insane. This is going to be a Mayo family regular.

Enjoy xxx Chef MM

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Loaded Caprese Avocado Salad

  • Author: Melissa Mayo

Ingredients

Scale

FOR THE SALAD

  • 1 pack of baby kale or arugula
  • 1 pack of cherry tomatoes (halve a few)
  • 1 pack of ripe tomatoes still on the vine
  • 8 oz / 227 g tub of Bocconcini (baby mozzarella balls)
  • 1 cup of Kalamata olives
  • 3 TBS of store-bought pesto (***)
  • 3 avocados slice into thin strips
  • A handful of fresh basil – cut into thin strips

FOR THE DRESSING

  • ¼ cup good quality olive oil
  • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
  • Coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Whisk together the ingredients for the salad dressing and set aside.

Place the baby kale or arugula on a flat platter. Top with the cherry tomatoes and leave the vine tomatoes attached to the stems.

In a bowl combine the drained bocconcini, Kalamata olives, and pesto. Mix to coat and scatter on top of the salad.

Blanch the avocados in boiling water for 30 seconds to stop them from turning black. Slice them thinly and arrange them in fanned out-groups.

Stack and roll the basil leaves and chiffonade them into thin strips. Scatter the basil over the salad and dress just before serving.

*** You can check out my Homemade Pesto Recipe. Store any remaining pesto in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Toss with your favorite pasta or use it as a base on your favorite pizza.

SERVES 4-6

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I'm Melissa, your host & tour guide.

A Food Network chef, author, mamma, eternal optimist, wannabe-mermaid, spice mixologist, and “dough therapist” (yep, it’s a thing)—

I'm also the founder of Susina Cucina, the gorgeous, Italian cooking school I manifested into my reality. I’m obsessed with Aperol spritzes, travel, and mouthwatering food… especially pizza and pasta.

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