My Favorite Ways to Eat Avocado

Avocados are a good source of a slew of nutrients, including vitamin C, K, B6, folate, fiber and potassium. Though they contain some fat, that’s no reason to shy away from them – especially since it’s the heart-healthy unsaturated kind! The state I live in happens to be the biggest U.S. producer of the fruit, hence why I’m able to buy them locally to enjoy all the time.

My grandma just asked me how I usually eat avocado. She’s been eating them plain because she isn’t sure what else to do with them. My response was, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll blog about it!’ 😉

So here goes, here are my favorite ways to incorporate avocado into my diet:

#1 – In Salads:  I love eating a caprese salad with avocado , as pictured above. If I’m making a Mexican salad, I like to use avocado as part of my dressing by mashing up 1/2 of one with light sour cream, salsa, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Yum.

#2 –  Classic Guac: Sometimes I’ll make a super easy and light guacamole to eat with carrots, pita chips, celery or tortilla chips. All I do is mash an avocado in a bowl, add chopped red onion, squeeze some lemon juice in, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and add a touch of olive oil.

#3 –  With Grains & Veggies:  To throw a quick meal together, I often make brown rice with tomato and red pepper. If I have avocado around, I’ll add that to the mix as well. Also pictured above is couscous with cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, sesame seeds and sliced avocado.

#4- In Grilled Cheese: I’ve talked about my love for grilled cheese with tomato and avocado before. So. damn. good.

#5 – In Wraps: Avocado is also a great addition to wraps. Shown above is a whole grain wrap with hummus, black beans, cherry tomatoes, roasted red pepper, lettuce and avocado. This wrap combo is a great lunch because it packs in the produce and is light yet filling.

#6 – In a Fruit Salad: I love to chop up some avocado with apple, mango, fresh basil, and lemon juice – what I call fruity guac. It’s great with some crackers or toast, or as a side with cheese quesadillas. Speaking of quesadillas, I throw avocado into those all the time too!

What’s your favorite way to eat avocado? 

Delicious & Nutritious Meals to Whip Up in 10 Minutes Flat

Look who I met last night while volunteering at the Humane Society:

She reminded me of how Harley looked when she was a puppy…

..only the dog from last night is a Chow/Rott mix and is expected to be a big girl –  70-80 pounds! She was such a cutie.

Moving onto yummy food for the day, I have a couple of meal ideas to share that are super quick to make, yet good for you and delish. I threw this quesadilla together for lunch today while I’ll was in the midst of a work project, and made the panini for dinner when I got home from the gym hungry.

No Queso Quesadilla  

What you Need:

1 multigrain or whole wheat wrap (I used La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious multigrain wrap w/ extra virgin olive oil)

1/2 cup of black beans (Libby’s organic)

2 TBSP of pico de gallo salsa (Trader Joe’s) 

2 oz of avocado

1/2 lemon to squeeze juice from, optional (I like the taste of lemon in my avocado!)

Salt & pepper to taste

Warm up skillet to medium heat. Mash up avocado, add salt and pepper, then squeeze lemon on top. Mix up with a fork.

Spread avocado onto one side of the wrap. Add beans and pico de gallo to the same side. Cook for a few minutes until lightly browned on each side, cut in half, then you’re good to go!

Stats: 305 calories, 13 g fat, 18 g protein, 45 g carbs. I’d also like to mention that this meal = 3+ servings of produce for the day!

Caprese Panini 

Ingredients:

2 slices of whole wheat ciabatta bread

(I used 3 oz of Trader Joe’s organic Pain Pascal whole wheat bread)

1/2 vine ripe tomato

1/2 sweet roasted red pepper

About 3 basil leaves

28g/2 servings of mozzarella (1/2 ball of Trader Joe’s Ovoline whole milk fresh mozzarella – because just one serving didn’t seem like enough!)

1 TSP olive oil

1 TSP balsamic vinegar

Salt & pepper to taste

Warm up your grill or panini maker to medium heat. You can also use an oven or toaster to cook the sandwich.

Slice tomato, basil, pepper and mozzarella. Place on one slice of the bread.

Mix up balsamic, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small dish.

Take a brush and coat the inside of the top slice of bread and caprese mix with the oil & balsamic. Use any extra to brush outsides of both slices of bread.

Throw into your panini maker (or whatever you’re using) and cook for a few minutes until bread is browned and mozzarella is melted.

Nutrition facts: 390 calories, 14 g fat, 19 g protein, 49 g carbs

Back to work for a bit, then it’s time to relax. Night!