Avocado Salad — The Other Half of a Solo Valentine’s Dinner Worth Making

Valentine's Day, year three of being single on Valentine's Day. I'm not counting anymore. I'm just living. Ma did not try to set me up this year, which either means she's accepted my singlehood or she's planning something more elaborate. With Mai Tran, you never know. She plays the long game. Emma made Valentine's cookies for her friends at school — sugar cookies with royal icing, decorated with hearts and flowers and one that said "FOOD IS LOVE" in tiny letters. She's been practicing her decorating skills, which require the same patience and precision as cooking but in a different medium. Her hands are steady. Her eye for detail is sharp. She makes cookies the way she makes everything: with intention. Tyler had a date. A DATE. He told me Thursday night, casual as breathing: "I'm going out Friday." I said, "Where?" He said, "Dinner and a movie." I said, "With who?" He said, "A girl from school. Her name is Ashley." I said, "Bring her by." He said, "Dad, no." I said, "Bring her by or I'll show up at the restaurant." He brought her by. Ashley is seventeen, polite, and looked terrified of me, which is the appropriate response when meeting your boyfriend's father for the first time. I shook her hand and said, "Nice to meet you, Ashley. What's your favorite food?" Tyler groaned. Ashley said, "Sushi." I said, "That's acceptable." They left. I stood in the driveway and watched the Civic drive away with my son and a girl named Ashley and I felt a hundred years old. Called Christine. "Tyler has a date." She said, "I know, Bobby. He told me last week." Last week. He told his mother last week and his father the day of. I have been demoted in the information hierarchy. This is parenthood. Made myself bo tai chanh again — the lime-cured beef. Solo Valentine's dinner, beautiful and intentional. Ate it with a La Croix and watched a cooking documentary and went to bed at 9:30 because I'm forty-three and that's what forty-three looks like on a Valentine's Friday. Tyler was home by 10. He said, "It was good." That's all I got. "It was good." I'll take it.

The bo tai chanh is the main event, but it needs something alongside it — something cool and fresh to cut through the lime and beef, something that makes the plate feel complete rather than lonely. I’ve been pairing it with a simple avocado salad for a while now, and on a night when I’m eating alone with intention rather than out of convenience, that contrast matters. It takes ten minutes, it costs almost nothing, and it turns a solo Friday dinner into something I’d actually serve a guest.

Avocado Salad

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 10 min | Servings: 1–2

Ingredients

• 1 large ripe avocado, halved, pitted, and sliced
• 1/2 lime, juiced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
• 1 small Roma tomato, diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. Prep the onion. Place the sliced red onion in a small bowl with the lime juice and a pinch of salt. Let it sit for 5 minutes while you prep the rest — this takes the sharp raw edge off without pickling it fully.
2. Arrange the avocado. Fan the avocado slices onto a plate or shallow bowl. The presentation matters, even when it’s just you.
3. Build the salad. Scatter the diced tomato and cilantro over the avocado. Spoon the lime-soaked onion slices on top, along with any remaining lime juice from the bowl.
4. Dress and finish. Drizzle the olive oil evenly over everything. Season with flaky salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes if using.
5. Serve immediately. Avocado waits for no one. Eat it right away alongside bo tai chanh or any protein with bright, acidic flavors.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 220 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 20g | Carbs: 12g | Fiber: 7g | Sodium: 310mg