Good and Good For You: Avocados

 

As I get older, I find that each year I develop a taste for a new food...new in that I never liked it before and then one day, it becomes a must-have.  Looks like 2014 will be the year of guacamole for me.  Never had a taste for it, but I find that the more I try it, the more I really like it.

Photo is from an avocado tree in the garden at a house I visited in Guatemala. Was still getting to know my new camera so not the best photo, but thought the image of pre-grocery avocados was too good not to share.

AVOCADO

I'm kind of happy for this new addition to my food palette because as it turns out, avocados are a super food.  Something you might not know is that avocados are a fruit, though unlike other tree fruits, they are neither sweet, tart, nor sweet-tart, but rather creamy and buttery in taste.  And unlike other tree fruits, they are a great source of protein.

Sure, they get a bad rap for a high fat content, but some fats are actually not a bad thing.  Because they have a low water content, they are rich in monounsaturated fats and fat-soluble nutrients.  They contain vitamins A, C, B and E and minerals like iron, magnesium, folate, and potassium.  Since they contain all of these good things, it makes avocados good for your skin, eyes, heart, bone and liver.  The oils in avocado are actually great for the skin and often used in moisturizing products.

In many countries avocados are a food staple.  Never really gave them much thought beyond knowing they are eaten raw or mashed into guacamole, but there are a lot of different ways you can serve them up.

Because of their texture, avocados make a good substitute for bananas in smoothies.  And added bonus, because of it's high fat content, it helps slow down the release of sugar from any fruits that are added to the mix making your smoothie a much more substantial beverage.

And speaking of sweet treats, avocados can be used for pies, puddings, cakes and ice creams too.  In fact, there may be something of that nature coming your way on Sunday.  I've got some baking to do and am curious to use avocados in a new and different way.

When you buy avocados you want to pick one with unblemished skins and no soft spots.  They are ready for eating when you press them and the flesh yields.  If your avocado is not quite ripe yet, toss it in a bag with a banana or an apple for a couple of days (the other fruits contain a plant hormone called ethylene which is key in the ripening process).  Once you remove the flesh, you can use vinegar or lemon juice to keep it from discoloring like you do with an apple.

So avocados, YAY! And welcome to my food world.

NOTES

Just a fun/weird little didyaknow...the word avocado comes from the Spanish conquistadors version of the Aztec word ahuacotl, which means "testicle" that refers to the shape of the fruit which grows in pairs on the tree.

Avocados have also been called "alligator pears" due to their shape, color and the texture of their skin.

English sailors in the tropics used to refer to them as "poor man's butter" since it was used as such.