Avocado Madness

Bravo for the Avocado!

Avocados, native to Central and South America, were introduced to Asia around two centuries ago and are also popular in the Philippines, Indonesia and the US. There are several varieties. In the US the Hass Avocado seems to be popular in California, but here in Florida they grow a different variety which is much larger and has a smoother outside skin.  Personally, I like the Florida Avocado because it is bigger, and has just as rich a flavor as the Hass Avocado, not to mention the nutrient value of both.

The pale yellowish creamy flesh is rich in oil, vitamins and protein. You will find a large beige stone in the middle. To remove the stone, I hit it with the knife to insert it in the stone, twist the knife and out comes the stone. The flesh can be eaten and served in many different ways from putting it in a smoothie, pureed, mixed with fruit to make a salad, made into soup, used as an appetizer, guacamole, and making avocado ice cream, one of my favorite things to do: the list goes on and on. I also like to poke holes in the flesh with a fork while it is in the skin, spray lemon or lime juice into it and eat the flesh out with a spoon. Avocado has “an exotic past and a glamourous reputation” as its culinary uses are endless. It is loaded with Omega 3 oil, a nutrient fat, not a bad fat, which is believed to be very beneficial for continued good health.

Everyone everywhere has their own way of selecting avocados when buying them to tell if they are ripe, storing them, and/or ripening them more after buying one they are not sure is ripe when they buy it. Here in Florida when you leave them out to ripen them you have to watch them everyday or they will over ripen as they ripen fast in a bowl on the counter.

Putting preparation aside, I want to introduce you to the SEED.  Yes, I said SEED of the avocado. Most commonly, they are thrown in the trash, or some people, as I used to do, try to grow them into trees. It was a fruitless task for me, as I never had the room in my yard, and then found that to grow them well and get fruit you had to have a male and female tree. How do you know whether your seed is male or female.

Back to the seed. I recently found out that the seeds are edible, that they are a wonderful source of antioxidants, contain about 20 vitamins and minerals and given its nutritious make-up, there are many benefits to include better heart and digestive health; healthy skin, hair and eyes; cancer prevention and weight loss, among others.

The question is – how do you eat the seed as it is not a nut?

After taking the seed from the fruit, you wash the seed, dry the seed, peel the seed, cut the seed into smaller pieces and grind the seed into a powder. Watch the attached short video – you will be amazed.

As you can see, the Avocado seed is edible. The powder can be, as it was indicated in the video, put in your smoothie, sprinkled on salads, and I would add put into soups, casseroles, even added to your homemade avocado ice cream, or just put in a salt shaker and sprinkle it on everything you eat. It will add those extra antioxidants that you need to your diet. Last, but not least you can also make it into a tea. I will be putting the chunky powder into tea bags – which are easy to use. Or, it can be put into a tea infuser. You can also add grated ginger to the infuser and there you have it a tea rich in nutrients. The video tells you that the powder really has little taste to it, so you can add lemon, and/or a natural sweetener such as honey, agave syrup, maple syrup, Stevia, or Truvia. You can drink the tea hot or iced which is very tasty with an:

Avocado Egg Salad Open Faced Sandwich
1/2  avocado – mashed
1  hard boiled egg – peeled and chopped
1  Tbsp red onion – diced
1  Tbsp pickled banana pepper – cut into small pieces
1/4  tsp. ground sea salt
2  tsp. lemon or lime juice

Stir all the ingredients together. Spread on whole-grain bread rounds that have been toasted and spread with coconut butter spread, or real butter. Mmm Good!

Hope you enjoyed this information as much as I enjoyed researching it and sharing it with you – my readers.

WISHING YOU ALL A GREAT DAY! MAY GOD BLESS!