Showing posts with label avocado. Show all posts
Showing posts with label avocado. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Avocados The Healthy Snack

As most of us know, an avocado is considered a superfood. A powerhouse of nutrition, the fruit (not a vegetable) is actually a berry with a creamy texture and mild flavor. It consists of unsaturated good fats. Good fats help the body metabolize vitamins A, D, E and K. 

The pear-shaped fruit, itself, provides dietary fiber and nearly 20 vitamins, minerals, and healthy phytonutrients (a substance found in some plants believed to prevent disease), including vitamins E, C, K, B1, B2, B6, niacin, folate, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese and pantothenic acid.

Photo: Target

I did not grow up eating avocado and when I first tried one in college, didn't think much of its mild flavor. Back in the day, avocados were also expensive! Luckily nowadays, we regularly import them from Mexico, making avocados plentiful and relatively cheap. I can find them for about $1 each, and I could eat big bowels of avocado in the form of guacamole until it comes out of my ears. But! At 240 calories per avocado, they are not low in calories. However due to their health benefits, not to mention deliciousness, they are not to be skipped.

If I want to limit myself to half an avocado, I simply cut one and eat the half with a spoon topped with hot salsa or Louisiana hot sauce. If I decide to make a meal out of it, I will make guacamole and have it with saltine crackers or tortilla chips. 

Here is my recipe -- double, triple, or quadruple etc. as needed:

Guacamole

Photo: Williams-Sonoma 

Ingredients:

A ripe avocado, smashed
1 tablespoon of finely diced onion
1 plum tomato, smashed and finely diced
a squirt of lime (or lemon) juice
red pepper flakes to taste (or a fresh jalapeno pepper roasted 1st and diced)
a sprinkle of garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: A squirt of extra virgin olive oil is tasty, very healthy but more calories. You decide.

Directions:

1) In a bowel, squirt the lime juice on the finely diced onion and tomato and let it marinate for 15 - 20 minutes. Taking this extra step makes better guacamole.

2) Toss the remaining ingredients into the bowl and throughly mix using a fork. Blend well leaving the consistency a bit rustic. It's that easy!

Avocado toast is popular, though I never make it. Linked below are dishes and ways I use avocado especially as we move into a warm climate. 

On a hot summer evening, a glass of red wine combined with guacamole, olives and a cheese platter is one of my favorite weekend dinners! Include celery, carrot and bell pepper sticks for a satisfying smorgasborg of textures and tastes. Although you don't have to cook to eat healthy be mindful of portions!! Low-calorie, crunchy, raw vegetables help in this effort!🥑😁
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Take a look at a snack I love too much, so will pause buying it at Target for a while:
When in my panty, it tortures me until every last cracker is eaten. That's not nice after welcoming it into my home!😠


Note to self: Eat more avocados not cheese crackers!🙂