Avocados: Egg Smash-up, Smoothie and Guacamole

Years ago, when my parents were visiting from New York, I decided to serve them some avocados. Joe, my dad, was less than enthusiastic having only had unripe, unflavorful avocados up until this point.  He remarked upon how he stayed away from avocados at all cost because they were tasteless and held no appeal for him. His opinion was forever changed after I served him a California Haas avocado.

Once it was served up simply diced drizzled with some olive oil, pepper and salt, I thought his head was going to explode. I think he thought I was a magician of some sort because I had picked a perfect avocado.  The teacher in him asked me a million questions about why our avocados were so much tastier than any he had eaten before. And, how did I get that pit out so perfectly?

I figured it was because they are grown here and we are lucky enough to have a year-round variety, the Haas avocado, available at all times. The avocados we've had in New York are a harder, taller variety than the Haas. According to this website, I'm thinking Joe is getting something like a Zutano avocado. The taste is much lighter and not quite as creamy as the Haas.

I eat a lot of avocados. I'm also lucky enough to have a group of friends and co-workers who love food as much as I do. We don't work in the food industry, but we all love it. Whenever I'm trying to come up with a recipe for a particular ingredient, I tend to take input from everyone at work. I spend an equal amount of time working with them as I do working on this site, so it makes perfect sense that if I can make something they'll love to eat, we all win.

The egg smash-up is an Israeli dish, I think, that my friend Anastasia started making for us. It's really a simple mix of equal parts hard-boiled egg and avocado, with some salt and pepper. It's great on everything from toasted baguette to rice cakes. It'll keep you going for hours, too, so no need to worry about getting hungry anytime soon!

My friend Robby suggested the smoothie recipe. I was not always a fan of smoothies, but something about the combination of banana and avocado sounded good to me. You can use either regular milk or almond milk here. The almond milk gives it a nice nutty flavor. I don't recommend using rice milk, though, because it's almost too sweet next to the banana and honey. And, the combination of the almond milk, avocado and banana makes the smoothie smell like the beach.

Lastly, my other friend Ari makes a wonderful guacamole. I don't think mine even comes close. But, it does have a great fresh flavor and nice piquant onions to offset the smooth and tangy avocado.

I know when I'm in New York this summer, if I can find some avocados I'm going to break out these recipes and blow Joe's mind.

Avocado Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

• 1 avocado, sliced in half and removed from the skin
• 1 banana, sliced
• ½ cup milk
• ½ teaspoon honey
• Ice cubes

PREPARATION

• Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the ice cubes have been completely crushed.

Serves 2. Prep time, 5 minutes; cook time, 0 minutes.

Cook’s note:  You can use almond milk or rice milk instead of regular milk.

Avocado Guacamole

INGREDIENTS

• 1 avocado, sliced into cubes and removed from the skin
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 small tomato, cubed
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

PREPARATION

• In a large bowl, mash the avocado until creamy.
• Stir in the onions, tomato pieces, spices and oil.
• Give the mixture one more run through with the masher.

Serves 4. Prep time, 5 minutes; cook time, 0 minutes.

Avocado and Egg Spread

INGREDIENTS

• 1 avocado, sliced in half and removed from the skin
• 2 hard-boiled eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

PREPARATION

• Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mash well with a fork.
• Serve on toasted bread.

Serves 2. Prep time, 5 minutes; cook time, 0 minutes.

Kale. Who Knew It Could Be This Easy?

Spring is here. At least in SF. It's got to be close to 70 degrees here with lovely clear, blue skies. A perfect day for a walk over to our local farmer's market.

There was a nice kale salad in our lunch this past week, so I decided to try my hand at cooking some. I've used kale in soups before, but never any other way.

Many varieties of kale showed up this week at the farmer's market. I got some and then stared it in on my kitchen counter for a good long time. I realized that I had no idea what to do with it. Since it seems very fibrous, braising seemed like a good idea. Then I remembered how we always cooked sausages in boiling red wine before putting them into the tomato sauce when I was growing up. Maybe red wine was the way to go.

It most certainly is the way to go with kale. I don't know if there are purists out there who have a particular right way to cook these hearty leaves, but I recommend that you give the red wine a try.

Once I had the kale cooked down, I thought I'd try two different final dishes with it. I served it alongside boiled potatoes straight from the pan with some of the braising liquid and garlic.

And, I made a pesto-style preparation, by pureeing the cooked kale, garlic and braising liquid in the food processor. Both were good, but I preferred the pesto-style, since I'd never tasted kale this way before.

Red Wine-Braised Kale with Boiled Potatoes

• 1 bunch Kale (or Hearty Greens)
• 1 cup Red Wine
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, whole, skin removed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3 cups Potatoes, cubed and boiled

1. Wash Kale thoroughly in cool running water.
2. Set a large skillet over a burner turned to high-heat.
3. Add the oil and water.
4. Turn off the heat and add the wine.
5. Turn the heat back to high.
6. Add the Kale and garlic. It will run over the side of the pan at first. It shrinks to less than half it's original volume once it is cooked down.
7. Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until leaves are tender.
8. Serve over the boiled potatoes, being sure to scoop up some of the cooking liquid to pour over the potatoes.

Red Wine-Braised Kale Pesto with Boiled Potatoes

• 1 bunch Kale (or Hearty Greens)
• 1 cup Red Wine
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, whole, skin removed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3 cups Potatoes, cubed and boiled

1. Wash Kale thoroughly in cool running water.
2. Set a large skillet over a burner turned to high-heat.
3. Add the oil and water.
4. Turn off the heat and add the wine.
5. Turn the heat back to high.
6. Add the Kale and garlic. It will run over the side of the pan at first. It shrinks to less than half it's original volume once it is cooked down.
7. Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until leaves are tender.
8. Put the cooked Kale and its cooking liquid into a food processor.
9. Process until all leaves and stems have been chopped up and incorporated into a mixture.
10. Serve over the boiled potatoes.

A version of this recipe is featured on The Fruit Guys website.

Stuffed Zucchini, Vegan-Style

Stuffed zucchini is a delight. I haven't made it in awhile, since I used to cover it in cheese and can no longer do so, dairy-free me and all.

I realized that if I were to put something else with a nice strong flavor in the stuffing, that could complement the mellow sweetness of the zucchini, I might be able to make this taste just as good without the cheese.

Last week, I made this Onion & Shallot Marmalade (click here for the recipe) and thought it could be the perfect accompaniment for the zucchini.

I was right. It added texture and also flavor, both savory and sweet.

Though I did  replace the regular bread with a gluten-free variety (Udi's), all the other ingredients are the same as what Gran Fran always used to make hers. It took me awhile to remember that you have to steamed the zucchini before you stuff and bake it. I did also fry the bread briefly before adding it to the stuffing, to make sure it browned and didn't soak up too much of the oil from the onion & shallot marmalade.

My daughet managed to eat the first batch of chantarelles that I sauteed and I couldn't quite remember how long to cook them in the oven, but in the end, they turned out great. I even managed to get a non-vegetable lover to eat this without any complaint,  and of course, I loved it, too.

 Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:

• 6 Zucchini, cut in half lengthwise
• 1/4 lb. Chanterelles, cleaned and chopped coarsely
• 2 pieces Rice Bread, cubed
• 4 to 5 sprigs fresh Oregano (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• 6 Tbsps Olive Oil
• 1 recipe Onion & Shallot Marmalade (click here for the recipe)
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Steam the zucchini halves until just soft. Do not cook them all the way through, just enough that the meat of the squash is soft to the touch.
3. Remove the zucchini and allow it to cool.
4. While you are steaming the squash, heat a saute pan large enough to hold the bread cubes in one layer.
5. Add the 1/2 of the oil, the oregano, some salt and the bread cubes. Lower the heat to medium.
6. Sautee the bread for about 4 minutes, keeping the cubes moving with a wooden spoon so that they don't burn, but just brown.
7. Remove the bread cubes from the pan and set them aside in a medium bowl.
8. Return the saute pan to high heat, and add the remaining olive oil.
9. Add the chanterelle mushrooms to the pan and cook until nicely browned.
10. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and add them to the bowl with the cooked bread cubes.
11. Take the zucchini halves and scoop out the flesh and add that to the bowl as well.
12. Mix up all of the ingredients in the bowl.
13. Put the scooped out zucchini halves into a baking dish, large enough so they aren't touching.
14. Scoop a layer of the bread/zucchini/mushroom mixture into each xzucchini half.
15. Top with onion and shallot marmalade.
16. Bake at 375 degree for 20 to 25 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.

Enjoy!

Onion & Shallot Marmalade

Onions, when cooked over a very low heat for quite a long time, can be quite a sweet and comforting food.

The first time I tried to make a slow cooked onion spread, about 14 years ago, I burned it all up. It hadn't occurred to me that there was a lot of sugar in the onion that would be released as it cooked. Sadly, I threw away my first burnt attempt and tried again. After about four tries, I got it right, and have been making this ever since.

This time, I decided to add a shallot and some minced garlic. The flavors get really mellow as they cook down, meld with the olive oil, and give you a dish that tastes like it belongs in Provence. The flavors are sweet and savory all at once, which is my favorite combination.

This marmalade is super easy to make and can be used for a number of things: incorporated into a cooked veggie or meat dish (recipe to come later this week); as a topping for baked potatoes; a spread for toast or added to an egg scramble.

Onion & Shallot Marmalade

Ingredients:

• 1 large Yellow Onion, chopped into small, even pieces
• 1 medium Shallot, chopped into small even, pieces
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Method:

• Heat up a small saucepan over medium to high heat.
• Once pan is heated up, add olive oil.
• Put the onions, shallots, garlic, salt and pepper into the hot oil.
• Allow to stay on high heat for about 3 minutes, until the edges of the oil bubble.
• Stir the mixture and lower the heat to low.
• Keep on the low flame for up to an hour, stirring constantly.
• You'll know when it's ready when you see the onions slightly sticking together and looking nice and browned.

Serve on toast, baked potatoes or use as part of a meat or veggie roast.