I think we have established
that I love avocados. Growing up in Puerto Rico, I often thought that no meal
was complete without avocado. Over the years, I have shared some of my favorite
avocado recipes (here,
here,
and in the Amapola Press Pinterest board).
And there is no avocado recipe that doesn’t get my attention!
A summer staple now, we
keep flash frozen shrimp in the freezer—always good for a quick meal. Whether
boiled with a dash of Old Bay or quickly sautéed with a sprinkling of garlic
powder and some sort of crushed pepper, the warm shrimp served with diced
avocado and topped with lemon (or lime juice) is the perfect centerpiece to a
big salad. And prep and cooking time will never exceed 10 minutes.
The combination of salty
and sweet in a creamy marriage is absolutely enchanting! It’s also filling.
And just as easily as you
used to make a big salad, you can use the mix for tacos, for a rice bowl with
black beans, or as a dollop to dress up a clear broth or a gazpacho.
This is similar but less
minimalist
I love ceviche with
avocado, and fried fish with avocado, and fish stew with avocado. Avocados are
very accommodating that way: they’ll be just as delicious in a tuna salad as in
a topping for lobster rolls.
Our latest obsession has
been adapting this Venezuelan Avocado Chicken Salad
to our taste (though we admit the recipe as written is pretty darn great!). We’ve
been making enough so that after a salad we can also have sandwiches the next
day. We’ve been adding marinated jalapeño slices to it, Sriracha, a lemon
pepper mix Mom loves… We doubled the garlic, of course. And it has been too hot
to make arepas, but that’s next (come on autumn!!!).
Our next tasting joy will
be trying out a dairy free avocado pesto,
which I believe will be the perfect sauce for zoodles and grape tomatoes.
SOURCE: Wikipedia Commons
For the record, avocado
goes well with red meat too – though we are trying to limit our consumption of
it. We use an avocado crema as a spread for steak sandwiches instead of mayo. I
generally whip the avocado with a little lemon juice, pepper, a dash of salt
and olive oil, but I love this recipe too.
We’ve moved to a heart
healthy menu but we have not sacrificed taste—just added a little less salt to
our dishes and relied far more on our little grill to cook our meals. Through
it all, I get to continue my love affair with the avocado.
