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Recipe

Alfalfa Sprout Salad with Cucumber, Avocado and Lemon

Make an alfalfa sprout salad with cucumber, avocado and lemon dressing. Includes measured portions, raw-sprout safety warnings and a sprout-free alternative.

Alfalfa sprout salad with cucumber, avocado and cherry tomatoes
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Ingredients

  • 30 g fresh alfalfa sprouts
  • 200 g cucumber, diced
  • 1 ripe avocado (about 150 g flesh), diced
  • 150 g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Read the raw-sprout warning before preparing this recipe. Children, pregnant people, older adults and people with weakened immune systems should not eat this raw-sprout version. For the alternative, omit sprouts and use 30 g additional cucumber.
  2. Use refrigerated alfalfa sprouts within package directions. Discard any recalled, spoiled or musty-smelling product. Wash your hands and clean the board, knife, bowl and colander. Keep everything separate from raw meat, poultry and seafood.
  3. Rinse cucumber, tomatoes, avocado skin and parsley under running water before cutting. Rinse the alfalfa sprouts gently under cool running water and drain well. Do not use soap or bleach. Washing does not remove the raw-sprout risk.
  4. Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Add cucumber, tomatoes and parsley and toss.
  5. Fold in avocado and the drained alfalfa sprouts with a clean spoon, keeping the avocado pieces intact. Divide between two plates and serve immediately. Lemon dressing does not disinfect the sprouts.
  6. Do not leave the salad at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C). Keep any reserved ingredients refrigerated; preparing only the amount you will eat avoids holding a dressed raw-sprout salad.

Why these ingredients work together

Cucumber gives the salad structure, avocado adds softness and the lemon dressing keeps the flavor simple. Alfalfa sprouts are the ingredient intended here; do not replace them with an unidentified seed mixture or a different raw legume.

Sprout-free alternative

Replace the 30 g alfalfa sprouts with 30 g extra cucumber. Follow ordinary produce handling and keep the salad cold. This removes the raw-sprout ingredient rather than pretending a household rinse can sterilize it.

Serve as a side

The two portions are side salads, not nutritionally complete meals. Serve with a separately prepared main dish. Dress just before eating for the best texture; no calorie or disease-prevention claim is made.

Explore sprout varieties

Read the Carolina Cooking sprout directory and preparation guide for ingredient distinctions and safety information.

Original Carolina Cooking editorial recipe; not kitchen-tested. Times and yields are provisional. Nutrition is estimated; see the calculation notes below.

Estimated nutrition per serving

Calculated from ingredient amounts and USDA food-composition data; not laboratory tested. For the raw-alfalfa version; the sprout-free alternative differs. Values vary with brand, sprouting, cooking and portion size. All measured oil and salt are included; water and optional accompaniments are excluded. Vegetable-broth sodium varies substantially by brand. Blank nutrients mean unavailable data, not zero.

Per serving

Nutrition facts

Serving size: 1 of 2 equal portions; estimated

Calories
214 kcal
Total fat
18.2 g
Saturated fat
2.6 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
159 mg
Total carbohydrate
14 g
Dietary fiber
6.8 g
Total sugars
4.4 g
Protein
3.5 g

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