VernetteOutLoud

What I'm loving: Avocado

Do you remember that scene in Forrest Gump where “Bubba” names all the different ways you can prepare shrimp? That’s how I feel about Avocado or zaboca as they are called here in Trinidad.

You can have avocado in a soup or a smoothie or a million other yummy ways.

Today I’m sharing one more way you can enjoy this so-good-for-you green and yellow yumminess.

You can check out the original gluten-free, vegan recipe here.

Gather
1 cup baker’s flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 mashed avocado
3 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. maple syrup (pancake syrup)
A handful of chocolate chips
A dash of Angostura Bitters

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and grease a baking sheet. I used parchment paper, so no extra grease was required.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: Flour, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl, mix together the avocado, coconut oil, vanilla extract, maple syrup and bitters. Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed. Then add the chocolate chips. I found my batter texture to be a little on the dry side so I added another tbsp of coconut oil.

Wet hands then form your batter into 1″ balls. Place on a baking sheet and then gently flatten with the palm of your hand. This batter yields 12-14 cookies, so you can tweak the ingredient amounts if you would like more.

Bake for 11 minutes until the edges are firm. I used a timer and the cookies were perfectly cooked in 11 minutes. I kid you not. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before enjoying. This is the really hard part. The waiting.

But oh so worth the wait. These are ho-ly shit good!

IMG_20140824_134206Seriously no eggs. Yummy soft, cakey texture. Who ever thought avocados and chocolate chips could be so yummy together??

This recipe is easy to prepare. I’m not even kidding here. 10 mins prep time, 11 mins bake time, about 5 mins give or take a min if you put a fan directly on them to hasten the cooling process.

And you have a healthy (there is avocado in it), absolutely delicious, guilt-free chocolate chip dessert.

Chilled Avocado-Buttermilk Soup

Avocado Soup

I really love avocados or as we call them here in Trinidad “zaboca”. I found this Avocado Soup recipe and decided to try it with my own twists.

This is an easy soup to make. It does not require cooking, only a short prep time and it goes well paired with shrimp or crab. The recipe I found called for crab; however, when I went to grocery, they only had crab imitation (I have no idea what that is) so I went with shrimp, my other favourite.

You will need:
• 1/2 cup fat-free buttermilk
• 1/2 cup tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 ripe peeled avocado, pitted
• 1 small bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 small garlic clove
• 3 cilantro leaves, chopped
• salt to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Pour into bowls and chill until ready to serve. This recipe yields 2 servings. I added some cayenne pepper to mine at the end for some added heat.

Day 12 – A simple gift

Today’s affirmation:

Today I simply give.

I got up today, filled with doubt. Doubts about this path and where I’m headed consumed me. I couldn’t even get creative about my affirmation. I didn’t mention before but there is one caveat for the 29 Days of giving which is, if you miss a day, you should start again from Day 1. By 4 p.m. I was feeling like I may have to start Day 1 again tomorrow. I had absolutely no clue about what the day’s gift was going to be. Starting over felt like a defeat somehow.

As I was wrapping up to leave the office, my friend Lucy invited my sister and I to join her for dinner. On the way to her spot, I thought to myself, how can I give a gift in this situation? But by the time I got there, I vowed to myself that today’s gift will happen naturally and that I should just enjoy the girl-time for what it was.

Lucy loves avocados as much as I do and so our dinner was going to be an avocado salad. Yes, my love affair with avocados continues. Below is a list of the ingredients we used for what turned out to be one of the yummiest salads I’ve ever had. It is light, easy to make and absolutely “customisable”

Avocado & Feta Salad

You will need:
2 ripe avocados
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
3 tomatoes, chopped
2 green sweet peppers, diced into bite-sized pieces
2 apples, chopped
2 cilantro leaves, chopped
¼ cup chives, chopped
½ cup of crumbled feta
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 lime

For dressing:
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons olive oil


Directions:
Cut avocados in half and remove pits, dice and add to salad bowl.
Add lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, sweet peppers and chives.
Toss and chill.

Combine all ingredients for dressing, whisk briskly.

When you’re ready to serve: top with apples, feta and walnuts.

Drizzle with dressing.

This made about 5 servings.

Salad Tip: Put some lime juice on the chopped apples, this will keep it from getting brown.

Today’s gift? I did the dishes and cleaned up after our dinner!

Trudy’s Frutti-Tutti Avocado Smoothie

Trudy’s Frutti-Tutti Avocado Smoothie

My sister, Trudy asked me yesterday what I thought of an avocado smoothie and if it would taste good. So I decided to try making one just for her. So using ingredients I already had, this is what I came up with.

What you will need:

• 1 ripe avocado, halved and pitted
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 cup skim milk
• 4-6oz Strawberry Greek yogurt
• Ice cubes

Directions

Combine the avocado, bananas, milk, yogurt, and ice cubes in a blender; blend until smooth. This makes 16oz.

Enjoy!

When you have this smoothie I suggest you follow it up with a light mid-morning snack.

I must say, this looked, smelled and tasted so good, I felt like I should be having it with a spoon. It was so silky smooth and the bananas and yogurt gave it the right amount of sweetness. Avocados huh? Who would have thought?!