DD FOOD: There’s no getting away from the avocado. It was the most pinned food on Pinterest last year and remains a top seller for Irish consumers.
Avocados are a stone fruit with a delicious creamy texture that grow in warm climates and are often a feature of Mexican and South American cuisine.
This creamy-fleshed, versatile fruit can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. Also known as an alligator pear or butter fruit, the versatile avocado is the only fruit that provides a substantial amount of healthy monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA).
Avocados are a naturally nutrient-dense food and contain nearly 20 vitamins and minerals.
The good news for avocado eaters is the fruit’s fats provide nutrients, reduce bad cholesterol levels and are said to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Hass avocados are oval shaped with knobbly-textured purplish-black skin. The Hass variety of avocado is the most popular, accounting for 80% of all the avocados eaten worldwide.
Consumers prefer its creamy, slightly nutty flavour.
Retailers prefer its durability and longer shelf life. Green fruit can take anywhere from two to seven days to ripen when stored at room temperature. You can speed the process by placing your Hass avocados in a paper bag with an apple for 2 to 3 days at room temperature. If you want to slow the process down, simply keep your avocado in the fridge.
Avocado’s popularity is showing no signs of slowing down: sales have grown by 31 percent in the last year, with retailers earning a huge £34 million in 2015 from our obsession.
If you are an avocado lover but are getting bored of just mashing it on toast every morning, try these recipes to mix things up a bit.
Avocados are currently on offer in Aldi as part of the super six weekly offers-39cent for two.
Avocado Breakfast Boost
Method
Prepare the avocados by cutting lengthways all the way around, working around the stone
Gently twist the two halves apart
Tap the blade of a knife into the stone and twist gently to release
Then remove the skin of the avocados by placing the halves of the avocados face down and peeling off the skin
Cut the mango into half and remove the stone
Scoop the flesh away from the skin and place into the blender along with the avocado
Blend until the avocado and mango have mixed together
Pour the smoothie into glasses over crushed ice
Baked avocados with egg
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.Slice the avocados in half, and take out the pit. Scoop out about two tablespoons of flesh from the centre of the avocado, just enough so the egg will fit snugly in the centre
Place the avocados in a small baking dish.
Crack an egg into each avocado half. Try your best to crack the yolk in first, then let the egg whites spill in to fill up the rest of the shell.
Place in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the size of your eggs and avocados. Just make sure the egg whites have enough time to set.
Remove from garnish with chives.
Avocado with tomato bruschetta
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice baguette diagonally into sixteen 1/2-inch-thick slices; brush both sides with a total of olive oil. Bake on a baking sheet until golden, about 8 minutes.
Halve avocado lengthwise and remove pit; scoop flesh into a small bowl. Mash with lemon juice; season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Spread on toasted bread; top with sliced cherry tomatoes.
- Avocado now on sale at Aldi, priced 39c per pack
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