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