The Wonders of Avocado
When you're eating clean, this little green, botanical fruit comes in clutch
When I’m trying to eat clean, avocados are a life-saver — for the very reasons they’re a pain in the ass when I’m not.
At Costco, they come in a huge netted bag. As soon as one ripens, they all do, and all of a sudden, like bananas, you have to eat six of ‘em before they go bad. Refrigerating doesn’t stave off the rot all that much, either.
If I’m pigging out on spaghetti, dim sum, and fried chicken, the last thing I wanna do is take the time to cut an avocado in half, pop out the pit, score and scoop out little cubes of half-rotting green shit —
— unless I happen to be in the mood for guacamole, and I’m only in the mood when the guacamole is super lime-tangy, super chunky, and super spicy, with freshly-fried chips, in front of the Super Bowl once in a blue moon.
Me, I prefer avocado super-not-ripe, not soft, but almost hard, and very bright green. So, there’s that.
Everything changes, though, when I’m on a clean, whole-foods diet. Avocados sure do come in clutch, extending the life of spartan, monkish meals of steamed broccoli and a piece of fish. They’re creamy too, a mouth-feel you badly crave when you’re not allowed to indulge in creamy chicken ‘n dumplings.
Last week, I scheduled a taco bowl for lunch with my husband’s leftover taco meat, mixed greens, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Lots of people eat that just fine, but it seemed a bit dry and bland to me.
I’ve also been interested in making avocado dressing, which makes a great vessel for those over-ripe avocados.
I used Jeanine’s easy Love and Lemons recipe as a base to make my own. Knowing what I do about the surefire, tasty alchemy of blending mayo and sour cream for ranch dressing, I did a little rework.
My avocado dressing came out so well. Tart, tangy, garlicky, full of umami, you can put it in anything, salads, eggs, salmon, chicken, soup, dip. Avocado, I did you wrong, I’m sorry!
My Avocado Dressing
Ingredients:
1 ripe to very ripe to over-ripe avocado
juice from 1 lemon
extra-virgin or regular olive oil
garlic, lots of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder for added oomph
dried dill and parsley if you don’t have fresh
a spoon of mayo
a spoon of sour cream
*if you don’t have either, use cream cheese
Directions:
In a blender or food processor (I used a small one), put all the ingredients together and whiz until combined to your liking. For dressing, it should be almost liquid. You can add a little water if you want your dressing thinner. I didn’t need to, as the mayo and sour cream added that liquid element.
