I Love Avocados!
OK, I admit it, I'm addicted.... to everything avocado. I usually just rough chop the avocado and add a little fresh squeezed lemon, ok a lot, since I love that too! And real lemons folks, not that bottled stuff. I spread this on a warm tortilla wrap, add a little romaine lettuce, and that's it!
I might add some sliced tomato or cucumber, cream cheese or goat cheese and/or sliced grilled chicken for a change. Or I might make my Kathy's Quick Caesar Wrap (see recipe lens).
What's On Here?
- Did you Know?
- Types of Common Avocados
- Ripening an Avocado
- Peeling a Hass Avocado
- Removing the Seed Video
- Storing or Freezing Hass Avocados
- Prevent Browning
- Nutrition Facts
- Other Ideas for Avocado
- Molcajete - The Guacamole Tool
- Avocados in the News
- Remember the 60's?
- Everything Avocado Links
- Lens of the Day - September 11, 2007
- Giant Squid Community Showcase
- 2008 Giant Squid Awards
- My Avocado Recipe Lens
- My Other Foodie Lenses
- Foodie Feedback
- About Me on Squidoo
Did you Know?
Did you know that avocados were once a luxury food reserved for the tables of royalty?Or how about that the Aztecs believed the avocado to be an aphrodisiac.
And I know you know that avocados are a fruit, not a vegetable, belonging to the genus Persea in the Lauraceae family.
In the US it is common to serve guacamole with tortilla chips, in Mexico, the proper way to serve guacamole is inside a fresh, warm, corn tortilla.
A one acre avocado orchard removes up to 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide each year.
One avocado tree produces nearly 260 pounds of oxygen each year. Two mature avocado trees can provide enough oxygen for a family of four.
Types of Common Avocados
Hass avocado - The best avocado for making guacamole. It is available all year round. The skin turns from green to purplish-black when it becomes ripe. 80% of all avocados grown in California are Hass.
Gwen avocado - Is similar in appearance, texture and flavor to the Hass. Gwen tends to be a larger fruit and the skin stays green when ripe. A fine substitute for your guacamole recipe if Hass is not available.
Pinkerton avocado - These large avocados tend to lack flavor. They are a winter variety with a small seed a lot of flesh. You see this variety grown in Florida as well as California. This would be our last choice for use in guacamole.
Bacon avocado - Available from fall to spring, Bacon has medium sized fruit and green skin. Although not as flavorful as the Hass it is 'adequate' for guacamole but not preferred.
Fuerte avocado - is harvested starting in the fall through spring. The Fuerte has smooth green skin and is quite tasty and a good guacamole choice or good for eating in any recipe that uses avocado.
Zutano avocado - can be recognized by its shiny yellow-green skin. The Zutano is one of the earliest varieties to be harvested in avocado season which begins each September. Ripening an Avocado
To ripen an avocado, place the fruit in a plain brown paper bag and store at room temperature 65-75° until ready to eat (usually two to five days).Including an apple or banana in the bag accelerates the process because these fruits give off ethylene gas, a ripening reagent.
Soft ripe fruit can be refrigerated until it is eaten, but not for more than two or three days.
Source: California Avocado Commission
Peeling a Hass Avocado
Use this simple three-step process:- Start with a ripe avocado and cut it lengthwise around the seed. Rotate the halves to separate
- Remove the seed by sliding the tip of a spoon gently underneath and lifting out. The other common seed-extraction method - striking the seed with a knife and twisting - requires some skill and is not recommended.
- Peel the fruit by placing the cut side down and removing the skin with a knife or your fingers, starting at the small end. Or simply scoop out the avocado meat with a spoon. Be sure to sprinkle all cut surfaces with lemon or lime juice or white vinegar to prevent discoloration.
Removing the Seed Video
I used to make a mess of trying to remove the pit, until I learned the proper way. You have to be careful with the knife, but this way is so easy!
Storing or Freezing Hass Avocados
Ripe fruit can be stored in the refrigerator uncut for two to three days. To store cut fruit, sprinkle it with lemon or lime juice or white vinegar and place in an air-tight container in your refrigerator. If refrigerated guacamole turns brown during storage, discard the top layer.When you have an abundance of fresh avocados, consider freezing them. Pureed avocados freeze very well and can be used in salads, sandwiches and dips.
- Wash, seed and peel the fruit as described above.
- Puree the flesh, adding one tablespoon of lemon juice for each two pureed avocados. Pack the puree into an air-tight container, leaving 1 inch of headspace.
- Seal and label the containers.
- Freeze and use within four to five months.
Prevent Browning
To prevent the fruit's flesh from turning brown, sprinkle it with lemon or lime juice. If you're too late, just scrape off the discolored parts and eat the rest.
To prevent guacamole from turning brown, leave the avocado pit in the bowl with the guacamole! See in video below.
Avocado Dip Bowls Amazon Spotlight
These are just so gosh darn cute!
Progressive Avocado Bowl
Amazon Price: $14.50 (as of 07/06/2009)
How cute is this? Fun bowl to use for your guacamole at a party or on your buffet table. Everyone will know exactly what is in this bowl! This 3-piece serving set includes 7 ladle, 1-1/2 cup capacity bowl and lid. Guacamole recipe comes with bowl. Hand-painted ceramic bowl is 6 x 3-1/2 x 4 high. Top rack dishwasher safe
Nutrition Facts
Because of their density, avocados, like bananas, are filling. But they are also a perfectly digestible slow-burning fuel, making them ideal for replenishing nutrients for athletes.
They're a great source of fruit oil and digestible fats, and they make excellent and healthy dips for raw vegetables. When blended with fruit, they make particularly nutritious baby food.
Avocado Tools Amazon Spotlight
Another useful tool
Avocado Slicer & Pitter
Amazon Price: $10.00 (as of 07/06/2009)
The Avocado Slicer and Pitter easily pits and slices avocados. The nylon loop end removes the pit without damaging the fruit and the wire end slices and scoops the fruit. Features a comfortable, contoured handle.
Other Ideas for Avocado
Pizza - Fresh sliced avocado on a freshly baked pizza (preferably a quality New York style cheese pizza) is delicious and easy.
Salads - Fresh avocado cut into cubes is great in most (if not all) salads.
Soup - Avocado is perfect when added to hot served soup as a moderately heavy garnish, as one might do with freshly baked croutons or graded cheese.
Pasta - add fresh avocado cubes on a freshly served pasta primavera, just after the freshly graded parmesan has melted a bit.
Ala carte - prepare avocado slices drenched in lime juice and garlic salt as an appetizer or light snack.
In any event, you should be able to use avocado on just about any standard recipe to taste. Good eating!
Molcajete - The Guacamole Tool
The molcajete is the traditional Mexican mortar and pestle used for making guacamole and salsa. Still hand made in Mexico today from lava (basalt) stone.A mixture of chiles, onion and salt is placed in the molcajete and ground to a paste then avocados are blending in (but not made smooth). Guacamole should be served right in the molcajete.
Molcajete Amazon Spotlight
An absolute must!
Molcajete - Authentic Mexican Mortar and Pestle
Amazon Price: $42.99 (as of 07/06/2009)
Our authentic Mexican mortar and pestle is handcarved of natural volcanic stone so it's just the right shape and texture for grinding herbs, whole spices and rubs, and for mixing sauces and pastes. The molcajete is a must-have for Mexican cuisine including salsa and mole sauces. Each piece is unique, and a beautiful display item for the kitchen, too. Hand-wash. Handmade in Mexico.
Avocados in the News
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Remember the 60's?
Everything Avocado Links
Add your favorite link to the list!
1
Avocados- Fresh Fruit from California- Recipes, Nutrition, Healthy Diets, Beauty Tips and more.
California Avocados are a nutritious and tasty fre more...3 points
2
Growing an Avocado from Seed
Watch in wonder as an avocado seed sprouts and gro more...3 points
3
Avocado Recipe - Avocado Central
Avocado Recipes, find free online recipes using ou more...2 points
4
BestAvocados.com - About Us
About Our Business. Our business started out of a more...1 point
Lens of the Day - September 11, 2007
Thank you Squidoo for my LOTD honor!What a pleasant surprise, and loved being famous, even if only for a day! LOL
Receiving such an acknowledgement really inspires me to create even better lenses!
Giant Squid Community Showcase
Featured Lens - June 20, 2008This lens was also featured on the Giant Squid Community Showcase Blog.
Thank you so much, I'm always honored to be included with such great lensmasters!
2008 Giant Squid Awards
This lens was nominated in the 2008 Giant Squid Awards, Best Cooking Lens category.Please be sure to check all these fantastic lenses by very talented Giant Squid lensmasters.
I was honored to be included with such fabulous lensmasters!
And I can't forget to thank Bonnie, Patti & Robin, our very hard working Giant Squid Organizers for the nomination.
My Avocado Recipe Lens
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Recipes with Avocado's
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My collection of avocado recipes to go with my I Love Avocado lens! My foodie lenses were getting way too long with continually adding recipes, so I decided to move my recipes to their own lens. This should also help out those on dial up too! And be...
My Other Foodie Lenses
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Lensography of my Foodie Lenses
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This lensography includes the foodie lenses that I have created on Squidoo. I started with my first one, I Love Avocados, which I am proud was honored with Lens of the Day, and then I just kind of took off. You will start to see a few more Foodie Le...
Foodie Feedback
Ok, who love's avocado as much as I do? Raise your hand! 
Be sure to Favorite this lens and my new recipe lens.
StevenDownward wrote...
i love avacados too. Between my girlfriend and I we eat about 12 a week. i think that they are apart of almost every meal. Good choice for a lens. 5 stars.
Steve
Posted June 09, 2009
Astrieanna wrote...
Wonderful lens.....the only problem is.....now I'm craving avocado ^^:
I especially appreciated the info on how to remove the pit and slice them.
Posted June 05, 2009
Jayme wrote
I had no idea there were that many different kinds of avocados. The soup looks delicious, can't wait to try it.
Posted June 04, 2009
Cashbandit wrote...
This is a great site! Man I get hungry when I see sites like this. I bet a ice cold margarita would go great with it right now! Gotta go...chips, avocado dip, & a margarita are calling me. C ya.....
Posted May 31, 2009
thewishpearl wrote...
Fantastic lens! I love avocados especially sprinkled with lime juice, salt and pepper or with chicken salad in the middle! 5*'s and fav'd
Posted May 29, 2009
GeorgiaGold wrote...
I agree that corn tortillas go perfectly with avocados. Avocados are awesome!
Posted May 28, 2009
About Me on Squidoo
awelldressedbullet, aka Kathy aka "Pretty Bullet", has been a member since June 14 2007, has rated 1,874 lenses, favorited 838, and has created 201 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "I Love Avocados". See all my lenses
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