Showing posts with label avocados. Show all posts
Showing posts with label avocados. Show all posts

Monday, July 23, 2012

My favorite 'Empty your Fridge' Avocado Summer Salad Recipe

 

I have had a life long obsession with Avocados, we called them 'aguacates' growing up and my grandmother (abuela) and great-grandmother paired them with many of the traditional Puerto Rican dishes that I grew up on and love. For us the traditional 'arroz con pollo' (chicken and rice) became anything but ordinary when paired with Black Beans and Avocados.


I am not as good as my Abuela and my mom are with picking ripe Avocados ready for that day, but thankfully my local grocer is and he always tells me which ones are ready!

Like me, my mom has a strong love of travel and adventure, and we'd spend our summer days anywhere but home, which meant when we got back home, tired from a day in the sun, no one wanted to cook, but eating out every single day of summer would have been budget breaking. One of my mom's favorite go to staples was a 'huge' summer salad, instead of as a side dish, it was so chock full of stuff that it became a main meal. Making it not only cost effective, (because she used what was in season), but also a much healthier meal than fast/processed foods. And we didn't have to have the hot oven or stove on during those scorching summer days.

To this day I still live on salads during the summer, and much like my mom's favorite salad idea, I've adapted it to make it an 'Empty Your Fridge' Avocado Summer Salad. There are certain staples I always buy from shopping trip to shopping trip so those have become staples in the salad that never change, but the protein changes, from chicken, to pork to shrimp depending on what's left over and already in my fridge.

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Empty Your Fridge Salad:

Ingredients:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - 1 Ripe Avocado diced
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - 1 Garden Tomato diced
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - 1 head of Romaine Lettuce, clean, dry and shredded
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - 1 box of organic mixed greens, clean, dry and shredded
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - 1/4 of a canister of walnuts (for a more asian flair add cashews and sesame seeds, especially if the protein is shrimp or chicken)
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - 2 cups of whatever proteins you have left over in your fridge, feel free to mix if you don't have a lot of any one particular thing, it could be chicken, pork, shrimp, tofu, etc.
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Per your own taste (feel free to omit anything you do not like or are allergic to): diced onions, diced green peppers, diced/sliced or shaved carrots, finely chopped scallions, some garlic, diced celery, capers, diced olives
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - I always add a bit of cheese depending on what I have in the fridge also!

Directions:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and toss evenly to mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Serve in individual bowls with dressing on the side. And if you don't have dressing on hand you can always mix your own with oil and vinegar or some balsamic!

*This could easily feed 2-4, just double up on the tomato if you are feeding more than two with this!


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On my very first visit to Cancun Mexico, I visited a restaurant close to my hotel and they told me that Mexico alone has hundreds of varieties of Avocados, and I have vowed that I will try them ALL! I had Avocados with breakfast, lunch and dinner that trip and every subsequent visit since!

Fuerte and Hass varieties are probably the most common of the Mexican Avocados, there is also the Gwen (most often confused for Hass), Pinkerton, Reed and Zutano.

Healthy Recipe Substitution Tips:

Last summer I focused on some healthy recipe substitutions with Yogurt, here are some recipe substitution tips with Avocados:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Replace fatty dips with guacamole and served with BAKED Tortilla Chips for a healthy and equally tasty snack.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Make your smoothies creamier by adding Avocado

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ -  Top your soups and stews with Diced Avocado in place of sour cream

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Spread 2 Tbsp of mashed Avocado on your wheat toast instead of butter

Find other fun recipes on the Avocados from Mexico site in both Spanish and English! Get social with @guacgrl on twitter! And for my pinterest peeps, you can follow them on pinterest at: http://pinterest.com/Mexicanavocados/


And because you know I love great deals, here is a discount coupon you can use on your next shopping trip:








˙·٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ●•●•٠·˙

FTC Disclosure: This sponsored post is brought to you by Avocados from Mexico via Latina Bloggers Connect. Additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly's disclosure policy can be found here.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Today's Words of Inspiration - Let your TasteBuds Lead the Way!



I am checking in late today, but for good reason. Today, I continued upon this week's theme of 'inspiration in action' and today I let my tastebuds lead the way!

I was invited to a very special dinner tonight (Thanks Caroline!) and it was like a trip to my favorite place without even getting on a plane!

"All About Avocados" - A Mexican Avocado Adventure" - is an aptly titled teaching and tasting event, hosted by saboresusa.org that brought the tastes of Mexico to life, thanks to Chef Patricio Sandoval's culinary alchemy. Chef Patricio, is both the Executive Chef and Owner of Mercadito Restaurant. He is a warm and inviting host, and his restaurant, like him, is equally warm and inviting with attentive and friendly service.

Mercadito can also be found in Chicago as well as Miami but this event was hosted in the NYC Restaurant. (179 Avenue B, New York, NY)

The Menu (prepare to drool)

Guacamole Tradicional - Avocado, tomato, cilantro, onion and chile serrano dip
Ceviche de Dorado - Mahi-Mahi, avocado, tomato, orange-chile de arbol broth
Tacos de Camaron (Shrimp Taco) - Soft Corn Tortilla with Roasted Garlic Chipotle mojo marinated shrimp and avocado

Cocktail - "Pepino el Pyu" - Tequila Blanco, lemon juice, cucumber juice and hoja santa syrup

I swear he had me personally in mind when he planned the menu even though he didn't know me yet! I love Mahi Mahi, and I love Shrimp, my tummy is still smiling!

Even though I am not from Mexico, I have visited there several times, and this dinner reminded me just how much I'd really love to go back, I wish I was there NOW!

I enjoyed great company, great food and drink and found a new restaurant that reminds me so much of my favorite vacation spot, today couldn't have possibly been a better day!

I got to live my very own 'Eat Pray Love' today, now that my friends, is inspiration in action!

This weekend, let your TasteBuds lead the way! If they happen to lead you to Mercadito Restaurant, have a 'Pepino el Pyu' cocktail with your bestie or your sweetie (or BOTH) and toast to 'inspiration' in whatever form it finds you!

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