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Avocado

Cooking Show Video

Summer Rolls are really easy to make once you get the hang of working with the rice paper wrappers. We gather a bunch of colorful vegetables and cut them to be about the same size. We then add some fresh Dungeness crab tossed with ginger, serrano chile, and some cilantro to the mix, before topping them with crunchy cashews. The result is a light and healthy, yet filling dinner that is fun for everyone. You can play around with what is fresh at the market and add it to your Rolls. Make them with our Peach Dipping Sauce for another local Summer twist.

Blog entry

If you haven't noticed already, I love sesame.  Love might actually be an understatement, "am obsessed with" might be closer to the truth.  I would rather have something with sesame in it for dessert than chocolate.  In fact, when Emma and I found a sesame bar recipe in Nawal Nasrallah's book Delights from the Garden of Eden, I felt like I was in heaven.  I could make sesame bars instead of brownies for the rest of my life!  Anyway, though it is not a new discovery, it truly is a constant in my life and I wanted to share- Tahini Salad Dressing.  In the Winter, I exchange my lettuces and salad greens for kale.  I found a great salad mix at Whole Foods that is kale already chopped up and ready to eat, which is perfect for meals when you are in a time crunch.  I make a tahini dressing by mixing tahini with a touch of olive oil, lemon juice, water, and salt.  I don't have a direct recipe for this, because I just sort of mix it all together in a small bowl.  It is usually equal parts tahini and water, then a tablespoon of olive oil, the juice of a lemon, and coarse sea salt. I also might add a teaspoon or so of Braggs Liquid Amino Acids, which is a great substitute for soy sauce.  I toss together the kale, sliced avocado, fresh pomegranate seeds, chickpeas (canned or sprouted), and thinly sliced red onion, and dress with the tahini. It is also really rich, and full of healthy fats.  I love the combination of flavors and textures that all of the ingredients provide, and the health benefits.  Sesame is full of calcium and protein; the kale is of course a great source of vitamins A, K, and C, and is full of fiber; the pomegranates are full of powerful antioxidants; and the avocado is another great source of fiber and vitamin C, and also has lots of potassium.  This is a powerful health salad that not only combats inflammation and oxidative stress, but also boosts your nutrients.  You know I will be eating this all Winter long.  

Recipe

This salad is called the Gypsy salad because it is a melange of flavors, textures and ideas from around the world.  Blood orange, arugula, and fennel from Europe mix with jalapeno and avocado from Mexico.  Cumin, mint, and dates from the Middle East come into play as well.  Many of these ingredients, like dates, have traveled from their origin, and are now part of new cultures.  It is like us, a gypsy that never stops traveling.  The measurements are not exact, we trust that you add how much you want of each ingredient, and enjoy the journey that it takes you on.

 

Ingredients

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and outer layer removed (if bruised)

1 handful of baby arugula

1 handful of dates, pitted and sliced in quarters

a few kalamata or Moroccan black olives, pitted and sliced

1/4 of a jalapeno pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 avocado, halved and pitted

1 sprig of mint

Small handful of parsley

a handful of fresh walnuts, roughly chopped

2 blood oranges (you can substitute regular oranges or cara caras here also)

1 lime (kaffir limes welcome!)

1-2 Tablespoons sherry or rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Pinch of cumin and salt

 

Slice the fennel in half lengthwise, and then thinly slice each half horizontally.  Transfer to a bowl and combine with the arugula.

Add the sliced dates and olives. 

Thinly slice the jalapeno.  If you are sensitive to heat, finely mince it, but if you like more of a bite, slice it in small horizontal strips.  You only need a 1/4 of the pepper or so.

Roughly chop or tear the herbs and add to the bowl. 

Keep the avocado meat in the skin and score with a knife in long vertical slices.  Use a spoon to get under the meat and scoop out the slices over the salad bowl. 

For the dressing, zest the oranges and the limes with a zester or microplane over the salad bowl.  You will only need a little bit of the lime zest and about 1/2 of one of the orange's zest.  Slice off the top and bottom of the oranges, removing the skin and pith.  Next place the oranges, one at a time, on the cutting board and slice off the skin and pith (without going to deep!) to reveal each segment.  Working over another small bowl, slice out each orange segment carefully, allowing the juices to fall into the small bowl, and then add the segments to the larger salad bowl.  When you have finished slicing the oranges, squeeze out any excess juice into the small bowl.  Juice the lime into the bowl as well.  Stir in the cumin, vinegar, and olive oil and whisk to combine (you can just do this with a fork). 

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. 

Add the crumbled walnuts. 

Serves 2. 

This salad works as an appetizer, but it also goes beautifully on top of grilled fish like tuna or mahi mahi, or atop a grilled chicken breast. 

 

 

 

Recipe

The point of a recipe like panzanella is to put to use stale bread that has gotten hard. The juice from the tomatoes softens the bread and gives it a delicious flavor. If you want to use fresh bread, simply toast it until it is hard. There are no exact quantities for this recipe, we leave it up to you and how much stale bread you have in your kitchen.

Stale bread, cut into cubes
Tomatoes, quartered
Red onion, a few thin slices
A few leaves of basil
Raw cacao nuts (otherwise known as cocoa nibs)
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
About 4 white anchovies, chopped
Sprinkle chile ancho powder
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar

Toss together the tomatoes and bread.
Set the red onion in a bowl of water for about 10 minutes.
Add the onion to the bowl, along with a few torn leaves of basil, the raw chocolate, avocado, anchovies, and chile ancho powder.
Drizzle over a couple tablespoons of olive oil and vinegar and toss again.

Panzanella salad is a great recipe to use when you have stale bread in the house. The idea is to not waste food, and when you add stale bread to a tomato salad, it sops up the juice and becomes soft. Our version incorporates avocado and raw cacao nibs, which along with tomatoes, are New World ingredients. Cacao nibs have a bitter flavor that goes well with the acidity of tomatoes.
September 12, 2009   |   0 comments
Tags: Avocado, Healthy, Salads & Dressings, Vegetarian
Recipe

1 Hass avocado, halved, pitted and skin removed
2 cans cannelini beans (14 ounces each), drained and rinsed
1 preserved lemon, roughly chopped
2-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro
2 sprigs of mint, thinly sliced
Good pinch of cumin
Good pinch of paprika
Salt to taste

Blend together the cannelini beans, avocado, and preserved lemon in a food processor. Add the olive oil to keep the mixture going in the machine. Add the herbs and spices and process a bit more. Taste it for salt. You can add a tablespoon of water if it needs to be smoother. You can also add a teaspoon or so of the preserved lemon juice for more of that distinctive pickled flavor.
Makes about 2 cups.

Recipe

The addition of preserved lemons to a classic guacamole gives this dip a surprising kick!

1 preserved lemon, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon lemon brine
2 large hass avocados, pitted
½ lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons cilantro, roughly chopped
1 sprig mint, roughly chopped
Pinch of smoked paprika

Pulse all of the ingredients in a food processor, until all of the ingredients are combined but not completely smooth. Makes about 2 cups.

So, preserved lemons and avocado end up being a match made in heaven; the tangy pungency of the preserved lemons is the perfect compliment to the creaminess of the avocado. This is a dip that people can simply not stop eating... so go ahead, MaROC that guac!
Recipe

For the Crab:
½ lb Dungeness crab meat
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon sesame oil (or olive oil if you don’t have sesame)
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Mix together the crab, ginger, sesame oil, lime juice, and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl and keep cold until ready for use.

For the Rolls:
12 rice paper rolls
½ peach, sliced in thin strips
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, de-seeded, and julienned
1 carrot, peeled and julienned
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut in thin strips
1 cucumber, peeled and cut in thin strips
1 handful fresh cilantro
a few sprigs of mint or shiso leaves
¼ cup toasted cashews or peanuts, crumbled

The idea here is to have all of the vegetables and peach cut in the same way, so they can line up together inside the roll. Try to get them all to be about 5 inches long, and cut in thin strips. Place the peach, red pepper, carrot, avocado, and cucumber side by side on one long plate (as in an assembly line). Have the herbs rinsed and ready on another plate, as well as a third small dish with the toasted nuts.

Dip the rice paper rolls 1 or 2 at a time in a bowl with hot water. Remove them one at a time, and place on a cloth towel. Spread out so it is the full circle, and dab with the cloth to dry off any excess moisture. They should be slightly damp, but sticky.
Place one piece of peach and each vegetable in the center of the circle. Top with a few pieces of herbs, the crab, and finally the nuts. Bring up the bottom flap to cover the bottom of the veggies, fold over the top, and then roll in each side to seal.
Repeat with the remaining rolls and serve with the dipping sauce.

Makes 12 rolls.

Tasty Tip

Avocado Mango Salsa is full of flavor and super easy to prepare. Mix together 1 avocado (cubed), 1 mango (cubed), 1/4 red onion (small dice), some roughly chopped cilantro, lime juice, and a touch of rice vinegar. Taste the combination and season until it is to your liking.

Tasty Tip

Avocado Mash is a great topping for burgers. It is basically guacamole, but with less lime juice and other ingredients. There are no rules for what to include, but we keep it simple with a squeeze of lime and some cilantro. We like eating it with the Guajillo Ketchup.

August 21, 2008   |   0 comments
Tags: Appetizers, Avocado, Raw
Recipe

¼ cup toffuti sour cream
½ Hass avocado
2 tsp. hibiscus powder
pinch of cayenne
2 T rice wine vinegar
3 T lime juice
1 tsp. agave nectar
½ tsp. oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Water to loosen

Blend all of the ingredients together.