Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Avocado


I'd like to introduce you to one of my favorite foods: the lovely avocaodo. Avocados are generally looked at as little more than fat, but this beautiful piece of creamy green goodness has more to it than meets the eye. In addition to containing good fats, it is a great source of vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium and a host of other vitamins & minerals. One avocado also contains 13 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein. Avocados make great guacamole, combine well with veggies in raw soups and make wonderfully creamy raw pie fillings. I also put avocado in nearly every salad I make!


Avocados are hard & green when unripe, but they will usually ripen on the kithen counter within a few days. Ripe avocados are dark/black and yield slightly to gentle pressure. If they are really soft, they are usually rotten. Once ripe, they can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days if not used right away. I like to keep several avocados on hand, at varying stages of ripeness. Buying them green & letting them ripen in the kitchen means less risk of getting a bad/rotten one, so once I have a few ripe avocados I like to buy a few green ones each time I shop. This way, I always have a steady supply of creamy green yumminess ripening in the kitchen. :)

6 comments:

  1. WOW I didn't know they could be stored in the fridge! Does this stop them from ripening to quickly? Genius! Can't believe i'm still learning this at this stage in my raw journey.

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  2. Yes! The fridge is the place for perfectly ripe avocados. They usually last at least two days in the fridge - sometimes longer - without getting rotten. :)

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  3. Wow... this is great to know. Thanks so much for this post, it will save me from eating 4 avocados when they're all ripe at once. Although sometimes it's fun to indulge in all those greens. I mean, avocados.

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  4. yum yum. chris would just make a huge batch of guacamole and eat it all in one day if i kept that many around. but i probably could stand to eat more of them.

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  5. Yum, guacamole..... Sunflower Market has them on sale right now for 3 for a $1. Hmmmm.

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  6. Aimee - I eat them all in one day if I keep them around, so I can completely understand. :)

    Andrea - Yeah, I got a bunch of those 3 for $1 ones & ate them for days!

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