With their distinct fresh green flavor and creamy texture, avocados play well with lots of the other foods on your plate. What’s truly remarkable though is that the research indicates that avocados can help with the absorption of carotinoids, the compounds found in orange and red fruits and veggies that can help protect against cancer. So while they may seem a bit indulgent, avocados could turn out to be lifesavers.
How to Add Avocado into your Daily Meals
- Add a quarter of an “avo” to your morning shake – or try this Chocolate Avocado smoothie.
- Enjoy an avocado half as a nutritious side dish with your morning eggs instead of potatoes or toast.
- Spread a few avo slices on toasted paleo bread for a quick pre-workout or mid-day snack.
- Add a half an avo to your lunchtime salad to keep you full till dinner — and hold the mayo!
- Add as a delicious “mix-in” for quinoa, beans or wild rice.
- Top hot or cold soups with chunks of avo to add fiber and “super-size” the nutrients in your bowl.
- Blend with lemon juice, water, vinegar, spices and whip into a nutritious creamy salad dressing or blend in a touch more liquid and drizzle the zesty sauce over chicken and fish dishes.
- Top burgers, egg dishes, chicken or fish with avo slices, or mash into guacamole.
- Blend up your own super-nutritious home-made baby food by combining avocado with fruits and veggies to get little ones off to a healthy start.
Tips for Ripening and Storing
At times it can be tricky to find an avocado that’s ready to eat with tonight’s dinner, so a little advance planning is necessary. True avo aficionados recommend buying a few firm ones at a time and then strategically staggering the ripening process so the avocados are ready when you are – and don’t all turn ripe at the same moment.
To expedite ripening, AvocadoCentral.com suggests sealing one or two avocados at a time into a brown paper bag, along with an apple or banana. Over the course of 2 to 3 days, the brown-bagged fruit will release gasses, which will aid the ripening process. Remove the ripe-and-ready-to-eat avo, replace with a firm unripe one, reseal the bag, and repeat!
- Buying avocados?
The good news is that conventionally grown avos make the Environmental Working Group’s Clean 15 List, meaning they’re relatively free of pesticides, and are OK to eat as an alternative to organic versions.
- Cut into your avocado before it’s fully ripened?
Spritz the exposed fruit with lemon juice, cover or wrap tightly and let it ripen in the fridge for a day or two. If that’s not enough, salvage the fruit, cut into chunks and add to your next smoothie.
- How you cut and peel your avo matters more than you might think.
To do it right, wash the outer skin and pat dry. Cut in half lengthwise. Pop out the seed with a spoon or tap a knife across the top of the seed to slightly embed it and twist (but be careful not to hit your fingers). Instead of scooping out the fruit, peel skin off gently with your fingers to get the maximum nutritional bang for your buck. Turns out, the dark green fruit closest to the skin is the most nutritious.
