‘Avocado’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Recipe: Avocado Cream

August 13, 2015 · Narrative

A creamy twist on your usual guacamole recipe, this winner from Bon Appetit is worth having in your repertoire.

When it comes to guacamole, I’m a bit of a purist.

Avocado.

Cilantro.

Kosher salt.

Lemon juice.

THAT’S IT.

I’m all like naked chef about it, and really want the true flavors of the avocado to really come through.

No mucking around.

Which means it surprises no one more than me when I found myself trying a new recipe for guacamole.

With a significant bit of mucking around.

Nick is on a SERIOUS chips and salsa kick lately.

And chips and guacamole kick.

Thirteen year old growing boys and all that.

So this was a good one to get into rotation.

Bon Appetit calls it “lighter,” and I’m not exactly sure why, because adding sour cream to avocado doesn’t exactly make for a “light” guacamole, but whatevs.

I think the addition of the vinegar might make it last just a touch longer than usual, and adding in sour cream and olive oil definitely made for a super creamy rendition of guacamole.

And I pretty much want to spend the rest of my summer days diving into this bowl.

And you will too.

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Recipe: Avocado Fries {Whole30}

April 27, 2015 · Narrative

Warm, creamy avocado fries that will have you thinking of avocado in a whole new way.

I am no stranger to the magical virtues that warm avocado possesses.

I first discovered how good they were on a cruise to Bermuda way back in 1996. The Ex and I discovered a little dive restaurant that served the most amazing Toasted Bacon and Avocado sandwich. So good that we smuggled a few back on the ship with us, and that fond memory has stuck with me since then.

So when I kept seeing recipes for Avocado Fries, I made a mental note to try them.

Because avocado.

But most of the recipes I saw were fried, and that’s not exactly what I was looking for.

So if you can’t find something you want, you have to do the next best thing… create it yourself.

And here we are.

The simplest recipe ever, you’ll be shoveling these babies into your mouth in less than twenty minutes.

I coated the avocado slices with coconut flour, then egg whites, then coconut flour.

Baked in the oven.

And then done.

Of course you can use regular flour too; I used coconut flour because I wanted to make these #Whole30-approved. Doing your second coating with panko will make them slightly crispier, if you’d prefer. I kind of like them this way better.

Smooth. Creamy. Warm. So buttery. Melt in your mouth. Completely guilt-free.

Pretty much a keeper.

Hungry for more avocado recipes? I’ve got you covered. It’s kind of a favorite thing in our home.
This recipe for Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce was a recent winner.
This Chicken Avocado Salad is in regular rotation in our home and after you taste it, you’ll know why.
You can find ten of our favorite avocado recipes in this post here.
And a whole Pinterest board dedicated to avocado recipes.
And lastly, more often than not, we split them open, drizzle hot sauce on them, sprinkle a little sea salt and dig in.
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Recipe: Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce

April 14, 2015 · Narrative

Light, healthy, yet perfectly filling, this recipe for Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce is the perfect celebration of all things Spring.

Avocado, I swear, has to be one of the most annoying produce items on the planet.

Because this happens ALL. THE. TIME.

Without fail.

Which means sometimes we have to be a little creative and find new ways to eat avocados. NOW.

I have had a recipe for avocado cream sauce pinned forever, and since all of us like avocado, I figured it was a safe bet.

Not all of us like zucchini noodles, but that’s life.

Like this recipe I shared last week, this one is super quick and perfect for a crazybusy weeknight.

It’s super light and healthy, so zero guilt involved, yet it’s filling enough to be a good meal for anyone.

Well, except those looking for red meat.

#sorrynotsorry

The creaminess of the avocado lends itself well to make a unique pasta sauce, and the zucchini noodles mean that you can have “pasta” without the carb guilt.

So this is perfect if you’re following Whole30, paleo, carb-free, or clean eating.

Or just love avocados.

Give this one a try.

I think you’ll fall in love.

Hungry for more avocado recipes?
This Chicken Avocado Salad is in regular rotation in our home and after you taste it, you’ll know why.
You can find ten of our favorite avocado recipes in this post here.
And lastly, more often than not, we split them open, drizzle hot sauce on them, sprinkle a little sea salt and dig in.

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Recipe: Chicken Avocado Salad {Whole 30}

March 17, 2015 · Narrative

A delicious and simple recipe that combines shredded chicken and creamy avocado to make a light and tasty lunch.

If I had to categorize the type of recipes I gravitate towards (whether they are my own creation or someone else’s recipe), I would say that they are firmly entrenched in two distinct categories: super simple and on the table in under 30 minutes or a long and slow process that could take the whole afternoon or even a week (like the homemade bacon that is currently curing in my refrigerator). This Chicken Avocado Salad recipe is definitely the former.

I am a fan of dishes I can pull together on the weekend, that will give me a week’s worth of meals.

Work smarter, not harder. And all that.

This is that.

Starting with a rotisserie chicken makes quick work of this recipe. Just break it up into bite size pieces and mix it gently with the rest of the ingredients, and you are set with a week’s worth of light lunches, or a dinner or three.

Options, you’ve got them.

So between the easy of making this salad, coupled with my love for ALL THINGS AVOCADO, I knew I would love the finished dish.

And I did. …

Recipe: Fresh Summer Salad

August 12, 2014 · Narrative

Taking full advantage of summer produce, this salad is quick to make and is a great celebration of the season.

The calendar says there are only three short weeks of summer and ack! How is that even possible? I’m not ready to let our sort-of relaxed vibe go quite yet. We still have Summer Bucket List items to check off our list, lazy days to be had, and sunshine to soak up. Though Fall is my favorite holiday by far, we intend to enjoy every last second of summer we can until that pesky school bell rings.

Which means taking full advantage of summer produce, and this throw-together salad is perfect for doing just that. Juicy ripe tomatoes from the farmer’s market. Tender creamy bites of avocado. Jersey corn. All the very best tastes that summer has to offer, brought together with a simple dressing of extra virgin olive oil and lime juice.

A side dish that takes just minutes to whip up, the toughest part of making it is chopping a red onion and two avocado. I mean, really, even in our lazy days of summer, we can handle that. This is a nice cool salad that pairs well with a burger or piece of chicken fresh off the grill.

Clean eating, super healthy, quick, fresh, and guilt-free.

Which is pretty much what summer is made for.

Dig in.

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Recipe: Tomato and Avocado Chickpea Salad {Cinco de Mayo}

May 3, 2014 · Ad-Free, Clean Eating

A quick, fresh, and flavorful side dish that is the perfect accompaniment to Old El Paso Quesadillas and your Cinco de Mayo feast … let’s do this.

Sometimes the stars align and I get my act together enough to share holiday ideas BEFORE the actual holiday.

This is that.

So Cinco de Mayo is this Monday. And there is pretty much not a better time of the year to have some frozen Margaritas and a table filled to the brim with Mexican deliciousness. And guacamole. Something so good that it deserves its very own mention. We have been on avocado-on-toast overload here this past week, which means we have a counter full of ripe avocados.

So we are ready for Monday and homemade guacamole.

But it’s a work day. And a school day.

Which means I want to keep the meal prep time down to a minimum, so we have enough time to enjoy ourselves properly, but still have time to do homework and all those other niggly things that get in the way of Ole!

How do we best do this?

Well, we simply channel a little bit of *coughcough* Sandra Lee and go the semi-homemade route.

The table quickly gets filled with some store-bought items, and some made-from-scratch, but quick-to-table items, which is the perfect balance to allow us to enjoy our meal prep, our actual meal, and even some downtime before crashing from Margarita overload.

That would be me. Not the kids.

Natch.

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Recipe: Smooshed Avocado and Egg Breakfast Pizza

August 22, 2012 · Narrative

When it comes to smooshed avocado, I am a firm believer that it can replace any sandwich condiment you might have otherwise used instead. Skip the mayo. The mustard. The ketchup. And their assorted calories and sugars, and go avocado. It’s the perfect binder and it’s smooshed consistency is a delicious clean eating way to dress your sandwich.

Now that being said, I think it’s also an awesome base for a little homemade breakfast pizza.

And in just the amount of the time it takes you to make your egg, this satisfying, healthy, protein-packed breakfast can be yours.

Which means, in under ten minutes.

Which is about exactly what I have to make breakfast for myself in the morning.

Mostly because I’d rather sleep an extra few minutes than play in the kitchen on a day that I’m trying to get to work.

Know what I mean?

So if you like avocados.

And runny eggs.

And want to start your day with a guilt-free breakfast.

Make this.

Oh yes please.

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Recipe: Broiled Avocado with Parmesan

June 25, 2012 · Narrative

I don’t have to hear any other words after the word avocado. Say avocado and I’m there. Friday night, I was unexpectedly kid-free. Which usually means I don’t have a formal dinner. I’ll usually forage. Or do a little of this and a little of that. Or skip it altogether. But I happened to spy this recipe for broiled avocado, and it quickly became dinner. Mostly because I had avocado on hand, it took all of five minutes to make, and was easy to eat while catching up on some work at my desk.

Parmesan cheese. Hot sauce. Lime juice. Avocado.

That’s it.

Because Friday night was still featuring soaring temperatures, I broiled these in my toaster oven, to save heating up the kitchen, and that worked beautifully.

You break through the slightly salty, crispy Parmesan crust and get rewarded with warm, creamy avocado, with a slight hint of hot sauce and lime juice.

OMG. So good. So very good.

If you’re looking for a quick snack, a super light meal, or have avocados on your counter that need to be used up pronto (me! me!), make this.

Hungry for more avocado recipes?
Try this Smashed Chickpea and Avocado Salad Sandwich.
If you love a grilled cheese sandwich, then don’t miss this Grilled Cheese, Bacon, and Avocado deliciousness.
And this Toasted, Roasted Vegetable Sandwich is a favorite and in regular rotation in our kitchen.

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Recipe: Smashed Chickpea & Avocado Salad Sandwich {A Week of Vegetarian Lunches}

June 4, 2012 · Narrative

When I came home last Sunday with our monster-sized haul of fruits and vegetables, I thought it would be fun to do a week’s worth of vegetarian lunches. I started the week off with this favorite tried-and-true recipe for Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad, and a few roasted vegetable sandwiches, and when I saw this recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod recently on Pinterest, the Smashed Chickpea and Avocado Salad Sandwich, it was the perfect finish.

Truth be told, avocado and I are closerthanthis. On any given day, we have several on our kitchen counter, in smattering degrees of ripeness. My 9-year-old son, Nick, and I will have one or two with dinner, or I’ll have one in various sandwich incarnations. He likes an avocado drizzled with a little bit of olive oil, hot sauce, and kosher salt. I do too. It’s an awesome way to bring out the full, buttery, creamy rich flavor of the avocado.

This Smashed Chickpea and Avocado Salad Sandwich became my lunch on Thursday. I almost skipped the “shell the chickpea” step. I mean, really, I can honestly say I have never thought of shelling chickpeas when I’ve used them before, but to try the dish in its original form the first time, I shelled.all.the.chickpeas. Each and every one. Man, super tedious work. A task I should have put one of my little helpers to, but luckily for them, they were outside enjoying a few moments of (rare) sunshine.

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Alternative Uses for Avocados: Hair Treatment

July 18, 2010 · Narrative

If you happen to come here looking forward to a slew of pictures from the weekend, I hate to disappoint you, but I was a total bum this weekend. Well, not total, but pictures of the six loads of laundry, the grocery shopping, the weeding, the cleaning of the playroom … I’m thinking that they’re not nearly as fun as the usual spate of pictures. I hope you’ll forgive me. Especially if I offer you something else instead.

Avocados. No denying that avocados are a favorite fruit (yes, they really are a fruit) amongst the Sweetnicks readers, but how about an alternative use for them? Like as in a hair mask? I know. I know. It’s sounds completely disgusting. And it is. But hang with me for a bit. I swear it’s worth it.

Sometimes you have an avocado that just got too ripe too fast and now you can’t eat it. Such a pity to waste it. I abhor waste. What to do? I happened to be reading the latest issue of InStyle magazine when I spied my answer. A hair treatment!

After applying an astringent mix to your hair to strip out all the dirt and build-up, then you apply the avocado treatment. I second-guessed it from the moment I started, so I’m right there with you. Here’s how I got through it…

First. I did it after I came home from Saturday night plans, and I didn’t have anything going on for Sunday morning except my Zumba class, so if all my hair fell out or turned brilliant shades of green (worst case scenarios of course), I had time to fix it.

Second. I tried not to worry what the different ingredients would do to my hair. The first step includes mouthwash. I worried about using the right one. What if the “whitening” one I had on hand had something extra in it that I shouldn’t be putting on my hair? I also colored my hair recently (first time since an ill-fated decision to put a thick blonde streak in my hair in my early 20s) … what if this wasn’t for colored hair? So many questions. No answers.

Third. I tried to ignore the mess. Because eww. It’s messy. I did it all over the bathroom sink and I swear there are little bits of avocado in places that there shouldn’t be. It looked like an avocado massacre in the sink. And I will probably still be picking out little bits of avocado from my hair for the rest of the week. Well, no, I think I got it all, but it’s a few shades short of a disgusting process.

But all that being said … do it. My hair has seriously never been softer. Smoother. All for about 30 minutes of my time and with ingredients I mostly had on hand (only had to buy Witch Hazel and a shower cap). Of course, I will now have to find alternative uses for Witch Hazel since I have a lot of it left over (what the heck can you use it for?), but it’s cheap.

(Before mixing)

I will totally do this hair treatment again, probably monthly, avocado-massacre-in-my-sink be damned.

Trust me. I won’t steer you wrong….

Healthy Overstuffed Sandwich

July 15, 2010 · Clean Eating, Narrative

When the kids had their Blueberry Pancake feast last night, it was all I could do to not make a plate for myself. But I was on my way to the gym, and really didn’t want to undo my hard work before I even got there, you know? So before I could grab a fork and dig in, I fixed this sandwich. Omg, a sandwich never tasted so good.

I mean, really, look at this!

Multigrain bread (I used a loaf from a local restaurant that makes their own)
Sliced chicken (other proteins like ham or turkey would be just as good)
Sliced tomato (I used one whole plum tomato for the sandwich)
Half an avocado, sliced
Handful of fresh spinach
Sprinkling of sea salt (I put it over the tomato layer)

Put it together and devour. I don’t think I barely came up for air. Satisfying, filling, healthy and delish. With the avocado, you don’t need any other condiments, as it acts as a great glue to keep the sandwich together, and gives it a nice creamy, buttery taste.

Who said “clean eating” can’t be packed with flavor?

Project 365
July 15, 2010, Photo #128

We go through a crazy amount of avocados in this house. It’s a good fat for you, and a taste we love in so many different incarnations (see Creamy Avocado Toast, Super Wedge Salad, Bacon Avocado and Watercress Pizza, and Lime Chicken Avocado Salad for a few delicious examples). But every once in awhile, we have a half leftover, and if you use avocados, you know how quickly they can brown. Blink and it’s over. Next time you have leftover avocado, keep the pit in the leftover half, sprinkle it with lemon juice and store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator. It will be good at least until the next day.