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I have some favorite fruits that are always found in my kitchen. Depending on the season, strawberries, blueberries, pomegranate, apples, mangos and bananas are definitely there, but there is a fruit that I buy all year long, independent of the season: Avocado.
It Is Actually A Fruit!
Yes, although it looks like a vegetable with its green color and unsweetened taste, avocado is technically a fruit. And actually a perfect fruit that can be added to almost every recipe with its neutral taste.
In addition to being easily integrated to many different recipes, it is a unique fruit with its benefits to the body. 80% of its content is fat, but this fat is good, even necessary, for our health. These fats in avocado are directly used to produce energy instead of being stored in the body. 15% of it is protein, which is to compete with legumes. The sugar rate is only 2%. So, it is actually not surprising to think that this fruit belonging to the class of berries including fruits like strawberries and blueberries, is thought to be a vegetable.
Why Do I Use Avocado Everywhere?
Besides the healthy fats and protein that it contains, it can easily adapt to any recipe, savory or sweet. It has such a neutral taste that it turns into a great dip with some salt and lemon, or a healthy dessert with some honey. So, I do not limit myself with salads only, because it is my passion to push boundaries in the kitchen 🙂
Raw Cake
For example, this raw cake is one of my favorite recipes with the creamy filling made with honey, avocado and lime and a crust of dates and coconut flour. It is also quite simple to turn it into a vegan recipe.
Avocado Pudding
Or this avocado, banana, cocoa and honey pudding is both easy and healthy. It’s a great recipe to use blackened bananas, or excess avocados that I bought 🙂
It doesn’t necessarily have to be made with cocoa of course, you can do avocados just by adding honey and your favorite fruit sauce. It is also very tasty without fruity sauces.
Choosing The Right Avocado
When using avocado it is important to find the right ripeness. Raw avocado is bitter and if it is your first try, it will definitely cool you off from it. I remember my parents buying the first avocado when I was little, no one knew how to eat it then. We chose it like choosing an apple, the hardest and the brightest 🙂 🙂 After this very first avocado (and the big disappointment!), I never ever wondered the taste of avocado again, until I learned how to eat it and decided to give it another chance. Now I love it and can’t stop.
Choosing avocados has a pretty simple trick. The perfect one is slightly soft, and when you press with your finger, they should collapse a little but is also should not be too soft. After a few disappointing attempts, it becomes easy to distinguish 🙂 When you cut the ripe avocado into two halves, one side is easily separated from its core and the flesh is bright light green. If you can’t separate it easily, you can leave it to ripen for a couple of days, even cut. The over ripened avocados begin to darken, have a bad smell and taste.
Also In Savory Dishes
I also love the combination of avocado and sweet potato. When I make baked sweet potato fries, there is definitely with guacamole aside, but for a different flavor, I think you should try this quinoa rice. I add it and steamed sweet potatoes into quinoa cooked in vegetable broth. Definitely very tasty. It is also a delicious vegan recipe without any animal products. A perfect companion to asparagus, as in the picture, or any other main dish.
One of the most extreme dishes I have made is baked avocado I think. I baked it slices with a mixture of breadcrumbs and parmesan, until golden brown, which was a very unique flavor. The only negative part of baked avocado is that it needs another dip than avocado 🙂
How To Store It?
While you are storing a half avocado, the important thing is to keep the part on the seed. If you apply some lemon juice to the flesh, it does not darken. You can keep in a container with half an onion, which is a more effective method, but then rest smells like onion and it has no other choice than turning into a dip 🙂
If there is a half-avocado somehow forgotten in the fridge, I add it to sautéed dishes instead of butter. It suits very well on every kind of sautéed vegetable dish. It instead of butter is definitely a much better choice 🙂
This article about my love for avocado ends with the healthy raw cake I meant at the beginning. I hope I have given some inspiration for some new and healthy experiment filled with it 🙂
Avocado-lime raw cake:
Base:
- 150 grams date
- 100 grams of hot water
- 50 grams of coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Set the dates sit for 10 minutes in hot water and blend them. Add the coconut flour and vanilla, mix well and spread the dough into a 18 cm cake form.
Filling:
- 4 medium size ripe avocado
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup to be vegan)
Put them all together in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour onto the base and let sit in the freezer for one night. Before serving you need to 15 minutes to let it thaw. Than it is ready to go 🙂
It Continiues…
You can have a look to my Instagram account for other avocado recipes. I will be very happy if you send me the recipes you try.
If you have different recipes, leave comments on Instagram or here. I would love to try! Let’s share and let the happiness grow 🙂
