Many of you following me will have seen many recipes on Snapchat and Facebook lately.
Most of these recipes have been dedicated towards certain lifestyle choices, coeliacs, vegan, vegetation or the health conscious.
There was an article here over the weekend discussing avocado and the health benefits that they have and how versatile they are in cooking .
This weeks recipe is a very indulgent use for avocado and well everyone’s favourite chocolate – imagine sitting eating this and it’s a healthier option too!
I have difficulty with avocado sometimes , not the cooking but the actual ripeness of them.
I always try to buy a certain amount of my vegetables from the market here in Letterkenny.
Now there are some things that just can’t be grown on the farm and avocado is one of them.
I love the phrase that supermarkets put on the packaging ……ripen at home , sure if I wanted to do that I’d plant a tree myself!
It’s a great way to get the fruit and vegetables to the customer quickly and then let us worry about the waste if they go off.
Avocados are temperamental wee fruits, yes the are a fruit not a vegetable and it’s a very thin line between under ripe and “damn they are rotten ” ! but with a wee bit of attention you can capture them on time.
You do have the option to buy avocados ready to eat , a gentle squeeze in the supermarket will indicate if they are ready to go , ( they should give in gently to your advances )these will last about 2 days at home so I just squeeze & buy them as I need them .
The others however are a different story, squeezing them in the shop will not help you’ve got to buy them and get them home. Usually they are purchased loose or you can buy several in a net bag or on trays, I buy the net bag ones as they can breath easily.
When you get your avocados home remove them immediately from the packaging and line along your window sill or in a sunny part of the house , this will help the ripening process and remind you to squeeze them everyday thus not letting them go rotten .
You can also but them in a brown paper bag with a banana and as the banana ripens they will ripen also , I prefer the sunlight method myself .
I remember avocados were all the rage years ago you’d stand for hours filling the hole where the stone was with prawns and then coating them with a horrendous cocktail sauce or pink sauce as it’s more commonly known . They were also served drowned in a horrendous cheap vinaigrette and and left to slowly go black through the course of the evening .
Avocados have now moved into a legendary status with them containing 200 calories each they are deemed to be a healthy food , full of fibre, nutrients , vitamins and tasty too .
Some people have a fear of avocados or how to prepare them but personally I think it’s the taste that puts people off until they really taste them or see them used in a proper dish.
I often have poached eggs and avocado for breakfast giving me a great start to the day knowing that I’ve eaten something fresh and taken in my first boost of calories .
Another recipe for avocados is guacamole , ripened avocado simply mashed with garlic , herbs , fresh chilli & lemon juice , a great vegan , gluten-free , dairy free option it can be used as the sandwich filling , a dressing for fish , chicken , grilled meats or even as a dip for some homemade tortilla crisps or shop bought crisps if you wish .
So onto the recipe. This will make two portions of avocado chocolate mousse and is best made 4 hours in advance to allow to set.
You may put it all in a bowl to set in the fridge or spoon into individual glasses . We use maple syrup and dark chocolate with no added dairy for this recipe which means that the entire recipe is vegan friendly and also gluten-free.
You will need
250g of ripened avocado flesh , that is without the stone & skin , if they are over ripe it will be fine
2 tablespoons of real maple syrup ( you may use honey but then it won’t be vegan )
80g of dark chocolate chips or pieces .
Almond milk if you wish.
Method
Place the avocado in a blender and blend until smooth .
Melt the chocolate with the maple syrup .
Add the melted chocolate mix to the blended avocado and blend again until smooth the chocolate must be added warm or it will be lumpy , if it’s very thick you may add a little almond milk but I personally like it thick .
Remove from the blender and spoon into your desired glasses , no licking the spoon you’ll need it all .
Allow to set and serve .
I’ve been informed by one of my snap chat followers that a wee bit of homemade raspberry & chai seed jam served works well with this , also a wee bit of chilli jam will really bring out the flavour of the chocolate .
Do give this recipe a try , I made it last weekend and tested it on my family & they loved it .
Follow me on snapchat for live recipes and a wee bit of fun @cheftothestars
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend .
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