Avocado Aficionado
I grew up singing the song, Oh, How I Love Jesus. While Jesus still holds the #1 place in my heart, I have such a strong affection for this dark-skinned, rough on the outside, smooth on the inside, egg-shaped fruit that I may just ad lib a version of Oh, How I Love Avocados!
Seriously, a food this high in calories and high in fat has never been so good for you. That’s because avocados are full of calorie-rich, unsaturated fats which are nutritionally dense due to its offering of 20+ vitamins and minerals. They contain nearly twice the potassium of bananas and each fruit contains 4 grams of protein.
Traditionally avocados are served room temperature, mashed up into guacamole or served sliced atop a gourmet-type sandwich. But the curious thing about these soft eats is that they remain firmly cubed when added to hot dishes! Here are two of my favorite warm ways to enjoy the goodness of this fruit:
#1 Added to soups—especially to chicken tortilla and black bean soups. Top your chili with them, too, for extra pizazz.
#2 Combined with eggs—scrambled or folded into an omelet.
Finally, here are a few useful tips when preparing to use avocados:
- Avocados ripen more quickly in the presence of bananas or apples.
- Once ripened, they can be stored in the refrigerator for another 3-4 days.
- To remove the flesh from the skin:
- Slice lengthwise along the midline, turning the fruit in your hand so as to cut around the large, centered pit. Twist the two halves and they will separate.
- Place the side with the secured pit on a cutting board and lightly strike the pit in the center with a sharp chef’s knife so as to imbed the knife into the pit by about 2 mm. Twist the knife and the pit will release. (“Push” the pit off the knife by sliding it along your garbage pail rim.)
- Now either slice the halves into quarters and peel off the skin, or cut the flesh (still in the skin) into cubes and use a soup spoon, pressed back along the skin to dislodge the cubes.
Oh, how I love avocados…now I hope you will, too!
