Fast and Easy Salad with Tomato, Avocado and Ground Lamb Salad

When I was growing up, salads meant red ripe tomatoes, lettuce and sliced onions with a homemade  "French" dressing drizzled on top.  Admittedly, they were yummy and fresh, however, they were pretty much relegated to the summertime because that was when our local Maryland tomatoes were available.  Every year I would look forward to eating succulent tomatoes right from our backyard or my grandfather's garden with the juice dribbling down my chin.  For many years, I used to wait for the summer season to buy fresh tomatoes.  Out of season, a good tomato is hard to find.

Today there are many varieties of tomatoes with all kinds of shapes, sizes and colors. There is no doubt that they may not be at their best flavor, however, tomatoes are available in markets everywhere throughout the year.  Although nothing compares to the distinct mouth-watering  taste of a garden-fresh, vine ripened tomato, I can't resist having having tomatoes in  all seasons, either in a salad or in one of my bacon, egg, tomato and avocado sandwiches.  Besides, it has been fun experimenting with different the varieties throughout the years.

This salad doesn't really have a recipe.  The only quantity that I can almost specify is that from almost a pound of ground lamb, I made four patties and put two in the freezer.  I cooked one of the frozen patties and used a half crumbled up for the salad.  I sprinkled the patty with BBQ Tandoori seasoning and cooked it slowly in a tablespoon of olive oil and about a half a cup of water.  I let it cool a bit before adding it to the salad in the bowl.

Here are the ingredients I used

Italian greens, already packaged and cut
Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
Tomatoes cubed
Avocado sliced
Onions, thinly sliced
Cooked Ground Lamb
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 TBs light dressing

Way yum!