Twenty Interesting Reasons To Love Avocados !

I saw this interesting article, and thought it one for sharing. Some people love avocados where others may not, but they are certainly full of good nutrients. Read on and see what you think ... avocados, may well suit your lifestyle. They certainly appear in my menu plans.


"From their heart-healthy benefits and skin-loving nutrients to their unique versatility in recipes and making snack times extra delicious, we love having avocados every day! Here are 20 great reasons why you should fall in love with avocado too (if you haven't already!):

1. They fit all diets!
No matter what eating guidelines you follow, the humble avocado works for all!

2. They're nutrient dense
Avocados are packed with beneficial nutrients to enhance the nutrient quality of your meals.

3. Avocado makes an awesome spread
Substitute butter and margarine for a healthy spread of avocado. You'll boost your nutrient intake, and it tastes great!

4. Boost your fruit intake!
Not much of a sweet tooth? Avocados are actually a fruit, so they count towards your fruit intake!

5. You'll never need a substitute
Avocados are always in season so you can enjoy them all year round!

6. They're super versatile
Known for guacamole, dips, and other savory dishes, yet avocados are appearing more and more in sweet dishes too. Think chocolate mousse, ganache, smoothies and ice cream!

7. They're low in sugar
They may be a fruit, but they contain less than 1g of sugar per ounce!

8. Avocados make great baby food!
They're firm enough for tiny fingers, yet mashable and soft enough to be gentle on gums. Rich in healthy fats, fiber, and other nutrients, it makes a great addition to your baby's first foods.

9. They're full of healthy fats
Over 75% of the fat content in an avocado is great for your heart! In fact, having more of these healthy unsaturated fats is better for your heart than eating low fat!

10. Avocado boosts your eye health
Avocados contain 81mg of lutein & zeaxanthin, antioxidants known to support eye health as we age.

11. An avocado is an edible bowl for your favourite fillings!
Simply cut an avocado in half, and fill with all sorts of things, from sauerkraut and salsa to diced roast vegetables, a few spoons of curry or bake an egg in it!

12. They nourish your brain and nervous system
A serve of avocado contains 3.5g of unsaturated fat required for healthy brain and nervous system development

13. They make a great fat substitute in baking!
Swap butter or coconut oil for pureed avocado. You won't taste it, trust us!

14. They make all things creamy and delicious!
Need something to be thicker, creamier, like say, a decadent chocolate mousse, or healthy banana thick shake? Add some avocado!

15. They'll keep your cholesterol on track!
Battling a cholesterol problem? Avocados are the richest known fruit source of phytosterols, a natural plant compound that competes with dietary cholesterol absorption.

16. Avocados contain nutrients essential for a healthy pregnancy
Containing folate, vitamin E, B vitamins, iron, choline, and fiber, they're great for both yourself and your growing baby throughout the entire pregnancy, from conception, birth and beyond.

17. They have more potassium than a banana!
Bananas are known for their potassium content, but per 100g, the avocado fruit contains 485mg of potassium, that's 127mg more than bananas!

18. They make a satisfying snack
All you need is a little sea salt, cracked pepper and a spoon!

19. There are plenty of ways to eat them
You can grill them, bake them, or eat them raw.

20. You can make ice cream with avocado!
A brilliant, dairy-free, vegan alternative to store-bought ice cream varieties, simply blend 1/2 an avocado and a squeeze of lime juice with 2 tbsp of maple syrup and 1 cup of your milk of choice. Pour into ice block molds and freeze. Delicious!"

Most words taken from original article by James Colquhoun here

http://foodmatters.tv/content/20-reasons-to-love-avocado

All the best Jan

So low in carbs, not worth worrying about, serves two. And the taste blows away factory produced food. Avocados are one of the healthiest foods on the planet.

Ingredients

2 medium sized avocados scrape out the flesh and chop.
I medium sized tomato finely chopped remove seeds
I heaped tablespoon of finely chopped green Jalapeno peppers
I tablespoon of finely chopped white onion
One teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
The juice from a medium sized lime
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a pyrex jug or bowl and serve, how easy is that.

Enjoy your avocado.

Recipe taken from here http://www.lowcarbdietsandrecipes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/home-made-lowcarb-guacamole.html

All the best Jan

You can make a wonderful 'Avocado Smash with Carrot Dippers ' just mash half an avocado with 1 tsp of lemon juice and a little sea salt and cracked black pepper. Chop carrots into sticks and enjoy!

I just love avocados, don't you?

Recipe idea from here http://www.foodmatters.tv/about-us

All the best Jan

The problem I have is telling when they're ripe.

Some of them are perfect. Juicy and succulent.

Others I put on the windowsill to ripen in exactly the same way. They switch from hard and unripe to black in 0.07 seconds when I'm looking the other way.

Hi Chris

We follow this guy, very knowledgeable and a great presenter. Some great tips.

The problem is they are mostly not ripe in the shop, so it's a bit pot luck when you buy them. There will be a succession of good ones to lull you into a false sense of security, then you get one that remains obstinately unripe until it suddenly goes straight to black.

My current one is a good one. I'll probably have the other half with the rest of the crevettes tomorrow. I just cut it in half, take out the stone, sprinkle with sea salt (The Horror!) and scoop it out with a teaspoon while peeling the crevettes with the other hand.

Oh I wish the wisdom was mine, but it is taken from what I read ...

"A friend of mine once planted an avocado tree and as the avocados would grow to full size, he would let them sit on the tree, waiting and waiting for them to get soft before harvesting them. But they never did get soft. The lesson: avocados do not ripen on the tree, but only after they have been harvested. This is the reason that they are often still hard at the market, which is not a sign of an inferior fruit but of one that still needs some time to undergo full ripening, a process which is simple to do at home. In fact, unless you are going to be serving the avocado immediately after purchasing, it is better to buy one that is still hard so that you can control the ripening process and therefore the point at which it will be perfect for consumption.

How do you know when avocados are ripe?

Although most avocados you find at the store are hard, some stores carry ripe, ready-to-eat avocadoes for their customers. An avocado is ripe when its skin turns from green to a dark brown-green color and "gives" slightly when it is gently squeezed. You can select the best, ripe and ready-to-eat avocado by looking for one that is slightly soft, without dark sunken spots or cracks. Obviously, these signs apply not only to avocados that are ripe in the store, but to those at home, giving you signs as to when your fruit has reached the perfect time to be eaten.

Be sure not to purchase avocados that rattle when you shake them. This means the pit is pulled away from the flesh and it is overripe.

How to Store Avocadoes After You Bring Them Home

Never refrigerate unripened (hard) avocados because they will not ripen in cold temperatures.

Unripened (hard) avocados are best stored in a cool dark place until they have ripened.

If Your Avocados are Not Ripe, Here's How to Ripen Them

Place unripe avocados in a brown paper bag to ripen. This traps the ethylene gas they produce and helps them to ripen. A firm avocado placed in a paper bag will ripen at room temperature in about three to six days. As the fruit ripens, the skin color will darken.

How to Speed Up the Ripening of Your Avocados

Add a tomato, apple or banana to a paper bag in which you have placed an avocado. This will produce more ethylene gas and speed up the ripening process. It will usually only take one to three days to ripen.

When to refrigerate avocados

Only refrigerate ripe avocados. Avocados will keep for up to 5 days when refrigerated but leaving them too long in the refrigerator will cause them to lose their flavor and begin to turn dark in color. Avoid slicing avocados before refrigerating as they will turn brown after they are cut.

Handle with Care

If you need to store an avocado that has been cut, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Some of the most common varieties include:

Haas: Grown in California, this variety makes up over 75% of the US avocado crop. Their edible yellow-green flesh has the consistency of butter, and a subtle, nutty flavor. They are about the size of a pear and have pebbly brown-black skin when ripe.

Fuerte: These Florida-grown avocados are larger than the Haas variety, having a more defined pear-like shape and smooth, bright green skin. Their flesh is more watery and fibrous, and they contain half the fat and fewer calories than Haas avocados.

Zutano and Bacon: These varieties have similar characteristics to the Fuerte, but they are less commonly available.

Cocktail Avocado: Weighing a modest one to two ounces, these small, pitless avocados are harder to find but well worth the search.

The above words are from The George Mateljan Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation with no commercial interests or advertising, is a new force for change to help make a healthier you and a healthier world."

Words courtesy of http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodtip&dbid=16

... I've always had a lot of time for George

Didn't buy any avocados today on my shopping trip but next time DEFINITELY ...

But can anyone (you) remember buying all good fruit and vegetables from green grocers who would always have brown bags - alas in modern times I don't think they are so easy to come by ...

All the best Jan

The paper bag trick might be worth a try, usually I stand them on the windowsill. The avocados I get usually aren't Haas though, they're the ones with the smoother green skin which stays green. When they get slightly soft and you can push in the stalk, they're there. When they stay hard but go black you got a dud. Eh well, the duds just go in the compost with the vegetable stalks and peelings and the weeds and dead plants and shreddings from the garden and are reincarnated as next year's flowers.

The paper bag tip definitely works ...

It sounds that you may buy the 'Fuerte' variety.
99 times out of a hundred I always pick the haas type, especially when on the odd occasion the supermarket may have them on a special offer!

That looks divine Jan! Great for a starter or a main for lunch I reckon!

Cheers

Paul

The avocados I usually get from the greengrocer are the smooth skinned type.

I bought a couple of Haas avocados from the supermarket for a change and they didn't taste much different although it was easier to see when they were ripe.

Today I've come back with a weird one, it's kind of long and tapered. I suspect it will be ripe tomorrow or the day after, will let you know. Might try a variant of the crab thing, with added prawns.

The weird avocado was a bit of a failure, probably explains why I haven't seen them before or since.

It was shaped a bit like a pear that had been through a mangle, about twice as long and half the diameter. The stone was right down at the wide end.

The problem was that the top end nearest the stalk was succulently ripe but the bit around the stone was hard and unripe at the same time. Back to the Haas ones in future.

... I must admit I prefer the Haas, especially when it has prawns with it !


But it is always good to try a different type ...

All the best Jan

Crevettes beat prawns! Avocados also go well with salmon. Probably not with the peppered mackerel I bought this week though!

"Crevettes beat prawns"

What is the difference I had never heard of Crevettes until you mentioned them. I have heard of Corvette Sting Rays

Imagine a prawn on steroids . . .

My favourite avocado recipe is half avocados, draped in smoked salmon, coated with a sauce made from cream and cheese with an extra sprinkling of cheese on top then baked until the cheese sizzles.
Others in my family like this with ham/prosciutto instead of salmon.lovely for lunch with a green salad, or a fresh tomato.

merrylizard1314 wrote:My favourite avocado recipe is half avocados, draped in smoked salmon, coated with a sauce made from cream and cheese with an extra sprinkling of cheese on top then baked until the cheese sizzles.
Others in my family like this with ham/prosciutto instead of salmon.lovely for lunch with a green salad, or a fresh tomato.

I quite fancy trying that with smoked pancetta/smoked streaky bacon in place of the salmon.

That works really well too. I have not come across many recipes for hot avocadoes, this was the first one I tried about 15 years ago, and still a favourite.

merrylizard1314 wrote:My favourite avocado recipe is half avocados, draped in smoked salmon, coated with a sauce made from cream and cheese with an extra sprinkling of cheese on top then baked until the cheese sizzles.
Others in my family like this with ham/prosciutto instead of salmon.lovely for lunch with a green salad, or a fresh tomato.

That does sound good

How about this idea?



I’m giving this as a breakfast, or lunch idea, so am suggesting ½ avocado per person - but of course if you would like to eat a whole avocado, and two eggs, well that’s easy just enjoy both halves!

Ingredients - for 2 (but see note above)
1 ripe avocado
2 fresh eggs
Shake of pepper to season
Teaspoon (or more if preferred) of chopped chives*

*You could use an alternative herb if preferred

Method

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, Regulo 7.
Slice the avocados in half, and take out the pit. Scoop out about two tablespoons of flesh from the centre of the avocado, just enough so the egg will fit snugly in the centre.
Place the avocados in a small baking dish, a muffin dish or ramekin works well, …but do your best to make sure they fit tightly.

Crack an egg into each avocado half. It helps if you can crack the yolk in first, and then let the egg whites spill in….so it fills up the rest of the shell.
Place in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the size of your eggs and avocados….but make sure the egg whites have enough time to set.
Remove from oven, and then season with pepper, chives, (or herb of your choice)

What a super way to start your day Low Carb - High Fat YES!!!

Original idea from here
http://www.fitsugar.com/Baked-Eggs-Avocado-Recipe-30787252

All the best Jan

 

That is a great idea for afternoon tea. I will try it straight away, and keep it in mind for Fastober low carb days. Sounds perfect.
Thanks @Jan1. I often have sliced avocado and poached egg on spinach, for breakfast.

Something I only discovered recently, the Co-Op sells packs of two Haas avocados. Coincidence or design I don't know, but one of each pair seems to be significantly riper than the other so I eat them in sequence over a few days.

The downside is that they are packed in a plastic tray (recyclable) inside a plastic wrapper which isn't. 90% of my non-recyclable rubbish is plastic bags and a lot of the recyclable stuff is food overpackaging, yet another reason to prefer local shops and brown paper bags.

That's a handy way of buying them

Shame about the wrapping these days ... whatever happened to good old fashioned brown paper bags, they were great!

I love avocado and prawns - well actually I love anything avocado

All the best Jan

Ingredients:
Serves Six
(5g carb per serving)
1.8kg roasted chicken, at room temperature
2 hearts romaine lettuces
4 tomatoes
3 spring onions
2 ripe avocados
3 tbsp lemon juice, plus extra for squeezing
200g packet feta cheese
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried mint
half a bunch of flatleaf parsley
5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp black kalamata olives

Method:
1. Pull the meat from the chicken and shred it roughly. Trim the base from each lettuce, wash and dry the leaves, then roughly shred them. Cut the tomatoes into wedges. Finely slice the spring onions (using both white and green parts). 2. Cut the avocados in half lengthways, remove the stones and peel. Cut crosswise into slices, and squeeze with lemon juice. Crumble the feta cheese with your fingers and toss it with the dried oregano and mint. Pick the leaves off the parsley and set aside.
3. Whisk the 3 tbsp of lemon juice with the olive oil, sea salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss the chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and spring onion, then fold through three quarters of the dressing with the avocados (carefully, so the avocados don’t break up). Season with salt and pepper, then scatter over the feta, olives and parsley, and drizzle with the rest of the dressing. Squeeze extra lemon juice on top.

Original recipe here
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3301/greek-island-salad-with-chicken-and-avocado

Who say's salads cannot be enjoyed anytime of year !

All the best Jan