By Summer. Fishing trips with Rémy continue every other weekend. He's a real fisherman now — not a kid who fishes, a fisherman. The same distinction I made about his cooking: the shift from doing to being. He reads the water. He knows where the fish hold. He casts with Joey's motion — the same angle, the same follow-through, the line dropping exactly where he intends — and the intention is the art, and the art is inherited, and the inheritance is in the wrist.
Made a fish taco night from the redfish Rémy caught — blackened redfish in corn tortillas with cabbage slaw, avocado, lime crema, hot sauce. Not Cajun (Danielle: "Not everything has to be Cajun, Tommy." Me: "..."). But Gulf fish in a Louisiana kitchen made by a Louisiana family is Cajun by proximity and by spirit and by the hot sauce, which is Crystal, which is Louisiana, which is non-negotiable.
The tacos had Crystal hot sauce and blackened redfish and all the heat a Louisiana kitchen could muster — so what that table needed was something cool, something with a little sweetness to pull against the char. Rémy had already moved on to his second taco when I set this salad down, and Danielle didn’t say a word about Cajun anything, which around here counts as a standing ovation. The avocado in here echoes the slices we put on the tacos, and the strawberries do what Crystal can’t: they make the whole thing feel like summer without announcing it.
Strawberry-Avocado Tossed Salad
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 6 cups mixed salad greens or baby spinach
- 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2 ripe avocados, pitted, peeled, and diced
- 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup candied or toasted pecans
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Prep the produce. Hull and slice the strawberries. Halve, pit, and dice the avocados. Thinly slice the red onion. Keep avocado pieces large enough to hold their shape when tossed.
- Build the salad. In a large salad bowl, spread the mixed greens as the base. Arrange the sliced strawberries, diced avocado, and red onion over the greens.
- Add toppings. Scatter the crumbled feta and pecans evenly over the top.
- Dress and serve. Drizzle the balsamic dressing over the salad just before serving and toss gently to coat, taking care not to mash the avocado. Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 220 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 17g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 180mg