This Hearts of Palm Salad may just be the most perfect side salad. Butter leaf lettuce provides stunning color, pecans a buttery nutty crunch and avocado chimes in for a creamy texture.
As I write this, there is a foot of snow on the ground and Winter has us in her cold steely jaws. Hearts of Palm Salad to the rescue.
Delicate butter lettuce, creamy avocado and hearts of palm is just the salad to shake off those Winter blues.
Springy in nature, this salad will remind us that brighter landscape colors are just around the corner.
Add a crunch of toasted pecans and red onion, a delicate dressing of lemon and olive oil and you’ll be dreaming of flip flops in no time.
What Are Hearts of Palm?
Just as the name would suggest hearts of palm are the inner part, or heart of the stem of the Cabbage Palm Tree. They have a delicate and tropical flavor. And if you don’t have a cabbage palm in your front yard, you can easily grab a can at the supermarket and enjoy this delicacy any time.
This salad comes together very easily. Served with your favorite protein, like this Oven Roasted Orange Salmon and you’ve got a very healthy, easy and impressive restaurant feel meal.
Let’s take a look.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Butter Lettuce
- Hearts of Palm
- Avocado
- Red Onion
- Fresh Garlic
- Pecans
- Olive oil
- Lemon
Ingredient Substitutions
- Lettuce: Choose a tender and colorful lettuce variety. Bibb lettuce or a Spring mix would work well here.
- Onion: Sweet onion is a good substitute for red onion.
- Pecans: You can substitute walnuts for pecans.
Step by Step Instructions, It’s Easy
- Step 1: Toast the pecans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans on a sheet pan. Bake for about 5 minutes to toast. Watch them closely so they don’t burn.
- Step 2: Place crushed garlic into a wooden salad bowl and rub it onto the sides and bottom. Add the olive oil to the bowl.
- Step 3: Place the salad greens, onion, hearts of palm and cubed avocado in the salad bowl. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and toss until everything is well coated with the oil and lemon juice.
Most large grocery stores carry can or jars of hearts of palm. You’ll find them on the aisle with the olives and pickles. You can purchase them whole or sliced. You can also purchase Hearts of Palm at Amazon.
They carry a very mild flavor similar to white asparagus or artichoke hearts.
Once the salad is dressed with an acid, in this case lemon juice, the juice will start to break down the salad, causing the lettuce to wilt and become soggy. This recipe is better made just before serving.
What To Serve With Hearts of Palm Salad
This salad is such a fresh and light side salad, it will pair best with a fresh lean entree. Try serving it with Scallops with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis, or Chicken Thighs in Lemon Cream Sauce. Or try it with a lean grill steak entree like Grilled Flank Steak.
I hope you give this Hearts of Palm Salad recipe a try. It’s irresistibly fresh and delicious and It’s amazing how a simple can from the vegetable aisle can transform a salad into a tropical side dish.
More Salad Recipes You Might Like
And if you’re salad fans like us, don’t miss my post on 9 Secrets To A Remarkable Tossed Salad. A step by step guide on how to make the best tossed salad ever.
And check out my Salads and Dressings Category. You’ll find lots of great recipes including the most popular on my site for Creamy Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing.
Hearts of Palm Salad with Avocado
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Pecans chopped and toasted
- 1 clove garlic fine chopped or pressed through a garlic pressw
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 ounces butterhead lettuce leaves torn
- 1 avocado halved, pitted, peeled, and cubed
- 1/4 small red onion thinly sliced
- 14 ounces Hearts of palm drained and thinly sliced on the bias
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Toast the pecans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans on a sheet pan. Bake for about 5 minutes to toast. Watch them closely so they don't burn.
- Place crushed garlic into a wooden salad bowl and rub it onto the sides and bottom. Add the olive oil to the bowl.
- Place the salad greens, onion, hearts of palm and cubed avocado in the salad bowl. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and toss until everything is well coated with the oil and lemon juice.
Notes
Hearts of Palm and Avocado Salad …It’s what’s for a Salad.
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
Perfection! So much snow here in Breck, Lea Ann. I think everyone is here on spring break. Town is bursting at the seams! Love all the ingredients in this salad and will make it and dream of spring somewhere.
Nice salad! My favorite thing about this recipe is the one bowl for all. And hearts of palm are always “in season” – easy to keep in the pantry. Beautiful photos!
I really liked this salad. And the colors.
I have a VERY old recipe that’s somewhat similar and I always kept a can of hearts of palm in the pantry then. What a great salad it makes with Butter or Boston lettuce and avocado! I’ve heard about the housing market from good friends whose son and his new wife just bought a house there recently. The climate there is wonderful and the views spectacular!
shhhhh…. don’t tell anyone else about our wonderful views and climate, I swear the inn at Colorado is full. 🙂 I’m with you about a can of hearts of palm in the pantry. Love them in any salad.
Lovely salad Lea Ann. Hearts of palm are not used often enough and I’m as guilty as the next person. We love them and look forward to trying them with avocados. What a great idea.
Sam
I am so over winter and we didn’t even really have one here. I would eat this salad as a meal unto itself!
I love hearts of palm and always keep a can in my pantry. That being said, i think if this weather keeps up, we will be mowing grass in two weeks!
Lea Ann, I had forgotten all about hearts of palm! It’s been so long since I had them, I’ve forgotten what they taste like. Must pick some up this morning along with avocados and butter lettuce.