Thursday, July 22, 2010

For love of an Avocado....

Oh dear sweet avocado. I love this little fruit. Stephen and I have a baby avocado plant at home (Avi). Avi is 2 years old and grown from seed by Stephen's grandmother. We're hoping by next summer Avi will start producing delicious fruit for us to enjoy! So, allow me to go on a little about this beautiful fruit.

Besides its subtle, sweet flavor and silky texture, one virtue of the avocado is that only one-sixth of it's fat is saturated, which is a much smaller portion than in meats, butter, cheese or even sour cream. The texture of a ripe avocado is actually a lot like butter. If you have a ripe avocado hanging around and you're guacamole'd out, try using it instead of butter on your morning toast or bagel with a slice of tomato! You can also try avocado instead of cheese on your lunch sandwich. Try sprouted grains bread with tomato, watercress and avocado (add some turkey if you roll with the animal protein).

Avocado is also fabulous in salads!! My friend Missy (who is raw and fabulous) gave me this kale and avocado salad recipe when I was on the 21 day Vegan challenge. It blew my taste buds away. Try it!!

Kale Salad
a head kale (any variety), shredded
1 cup tomato, diced
1 cup avocado, chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

In a mixing bowl toss all ingredients together,
squeezing as you mix to wilt the kale and cream the avocado. Dig in and squeeze it with your hands...I think food tastes so much better when you play with it first. ;-)

~Keep it Fresh!
Terra