Ack! Avocados!?!

[Isobel]

So, I hear that avocados are delish and good for you. I tell that to my husband the other day and he goes out and buys us a whole bag of 'em. The thing is, I've never really had avocados as part of my regular food rotation and have no idea what to do with them other than smash them up and make veg dip to take to a potluck.

Help!?!?! How do I eat these things!!?! Looking for recipe suggestions. Thanks!

[coonskee]

I'm still learning to deal with them (I don't like the texture...) but my mum loves chopping them into various salads. Sorry I can't be more helpful than that

[turandot500]

Slice them up and put in sandwiches, tacos, eat with eggs, cube them for additions to salads... use them as a cheese replacement... add to smoothies... send the extras to me cuz I love them haha

They have a nice creamy consistency and versatile mild flavor, so don't cook them into mushiness, just leave them raw :-)

[Isobel]

Salads. I can do salads. Check.

Tacos? Eggs?! Sounds... interesting. Add to smoothies?!! That's all kinds of crazy, but I like it! I am a huge smoothie breakfast nutter... I'm going to try that.

Yeah, I do like avocados, but just haven't had that much experience eating them other than in the usual dip-type stuff. I won't cook them... promise!

Thanks guys <3

[mist]

avocados are great with a lot of things - on salads as people have said, spread on toast, used as a dip. Baked avocados are suprisingly good (cut in half, remove stone, then bake - don't bake whole) and then used as a pretty serving 'dish' for a seafood salad.

You can make avocado soup - press the avocado flesh through a sieve , heat some stock (I usually use chicken) to hot but not boiling, then whisk it in to the pureed avocado. technically the recipe calls for cream to be heated and added there too, but the cream makes it very fattening and very rich. This is still a soup that is for small, start of meal quantities, not huge bowls for whole meal. Season with salt and/or pepper, and add some freshly chopped coriander as a garnish. But it is very tasty. Can't think of proper quantities of the top of my head, but if you like the sound of it I can go look.

[Timmy M]

i have mine in scrambles and salads (only had them in scrambles first to get used to the taste/texture and now i'm fine with them)

[peaches]

So, I hear that avocados are delish and good for you. I tell that to my husband the other day and he goes out and buys us a whole bag of 'em.

Lol, adorable

Avocados are the best thing ever, I love them. They're great in smoothies (like spinach, you can't taste them, and they give your smoothie a nice creamy consistency). I always have half an avo on the side with on omelette or poached eggs. I even just cut one in half, put it in a little oval bowl (Dad had these when I was a kid, I stole them when I moved to Melbourne!), pop some Italian dressing in the seed hole, and eat with a spoon. Best. Ever. Good with a squeeze of lemon juice and some sea salt too.

A storage tip - leave them out on the bench to ripen, once they're ripe, keep them in the fridge

[Eurydice]

Slice an avocado in half, cover the top with crumbled bacon and chopped basil, mix up right in the shell, and eat. I also use them in salads with fajita-seasoned beef. And with chicken.

[Roflhouse]

I slice one up and have it with tuna steak. Mmmmmm. And in salads - I make an Italian flag salad (spinach, tomato, mozzarella, chicken, avocado, bit of olive oil). Yummy.

[Richo]

I have mine on top of an omlette or with scrambled eggs. My daughter just loves them cut in half and with a spoon.

[Arbite]

I power through them because I regularly make guacamole and salsa. Ironic because I can't stand avocados by themselves.

[Oogiem]

Slice in half add some lemon pepper and scoop out the insides and eat.

Make Sheep Dip (not paleo but could be adapted to primal)

Browned ground lamb or mutton (add cumin, pepper, chile powder & garlic)

Good Cheddar or jack cheese

refried beans

sour cream

smashed avocado

salsa

In a casserole or other deepish pan layer the refried beans, then the ground sheep, then the cheese, bake just long enough to melt the cheese, then spread a layer of salsa, then the = avocado and top with sour cream. Can add some more cheese on top as a garnish.

I've served it with corn chips as a dip

Basically a taco without the corn tortilla that you take in bite size pieces.

[cianalas]

I usually just cut it into slices and dip it in salt, like you do with radishes.

[EmCee]

Oh, man... I pretty much eat avo with everything.

They get sliced up and placed on top of my eggs.

Avo/spinach/watermelon salad.

OMG - and cutting them in half, spooning the hole a little larger and putting an egg in the center and then baking... so good.

Plus guacamole!

Tuna steak, with chicken.

I can't even think straight because I literally just slice them up and add them to everything.

And I second the smoothies! So creamy and you can't taste them... I put the weirdest stuff in my smoothies! Avo, kale, spinach!

Yum.

[Raincloak]

FYI, avocados ripen on the counter, just like bananas. You can buy them green to avoid bruising. They are ripe when just slightly soft to a gentle squeeze. If you don't want your avocados to ripen any further, put them in the fridge. The softer and riper they are, the sweeter they get, but if you want chunks for a salad they need to be a little more firm. If you cut the fruit and find black spots inside, it's bruised or overripe.

Cut them by slicing vertically all the way around, down to the pit in the middle, then twist the halves to separate. If you're not going to consume the whole thing in one sitting, eat the half without the pit first (the other half will keep for a day if wrapped in plastic and put in the fridge).

If they are getting ripe faster than you can eat them, you can peel them and freeze the flesh. It will turn a weird brown color, but this is just oxidizing, it still tastes fine. Once it's been frozen, you're best off using it in smoothies or dips, since obviously the texture will not be the same when it comes out of the freezer.

I hear in Asia, they make milkshakes with avocado, sugar, and chocolate syrup. I tried that once at home and didn't dig it, but maybe you will. I think they must be using a different breed of the fruit.

fyi, the word "avocado" comes from an Aztec word meaning "testicle tree," because the fruit hangs off the tree in pairs... or so I was told by a man in Mexico ^^ In any case, the fruit is said to be an aphrodisiac.

[Wooksquatch]

Avocado,cream cheese and scrambled eggs. Enough said.

[alice-on]

Avocado stuffed tomatoes. Other than that, I can only suggest adding them to everything and seeing what you like best. And I mean everything. Just don't be afraid to try them on whatever you're eating.

[weirdquark]

I've had avocado smoothies at Thai restaurants before. They're sweet, but didn't involve chocolate. I've made them myself mixing them in limeade, and they work well with milk too.

I've had a version of gazpacho that blends in avocado. I doubt that I used this particular recipe, so I can't vouch for it, but the concept in general is pretty good.

[Lefeux]

I had a hamburger patty with guacamole on it and it was totally awesome. Especially considering my dining choices some days.

[Avistew]

When I was a kid, my mother would slice them in halves, give one half to each kid (without the pit) and fill the hole with homemade dressing (vinegar, mustard and a bit of oil). Then we'd eat the avocado with a spoon, making the dressing last the whole avocado. It was kind of like having it in a salad, I guess, but more fun to eat.

[Isobel]

Wow! You guys are a bunch of avocado eating superheroes!!!! I am so impressed and super jazzed to try all these suggestions out. Like a complete noob, I put them straight into the fridge before they were even remotely ripe. Whoops! Had take them out and put them on the counter!! Oh well, I'll know better for next time.

Thanks everybody!!!

[Laney]

I have a question, how do you store the damn things after you cut them?

[AngelCastaneda]

Slice it in half. Put a bit of ground black pepper on them. Eat them.

Or, bake them in the oven.

Sources: Avocado eater for 27 years. AND, AND! Guys! I had an avocado tree in my backyard when I was growing up.

[AngelCastaneda]

I have a question, how do you store the damn things after you cut them?

Leave the pit on. Spray or sprinkle a tiny bit of lime juice on it. It will keep for a day or two.

[Laney]

Leave the pit on. Spray or sprinkle a tiny bit of lime juice on it. It will keep for a day or two.

Awesome, thanks!