Ways to Eat Avocados

You can eat avocados in countless ways, or even with a spoon straight out of the skin.

A pear-shaped fruit with a thick skin, the avocado is rich in nutrients, flavor and versatility. Not just for guacamole anymore, avocado offers extensive options for the food lover who is looking for ways to eat it. You can include avocado in dishes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and even dessert. According to the Mayo Clinic, avocados are rich in healthy monounsaturated fats, which are good fats you should include in your diet. Avocados also contain lutein, which may aid vision, plus fiber, B vitamins, vitamin E and potassium.

Dips Salads

Eating avocados in salad proves both versatile and delicious. Avocado can team up with any type of lettuce—green leaf, red leaf, romaine—or a combination of lettuces. Add to your salad any vegetables, such as chopped celery, red onion slices, minced garlic, cucumbers and carrots. After cutting an avocado in half, you can cut slices or chunks of avocado and add the pieces to the top of the salad. If you want the pieces to stay intact rather than mushy, add them to the salad last, after you’ve incorporated all other ingredients.

For a quick and healthy snack, you can eat dips that contain avocado along with raw vegetable slices or whole-grain crackers. Guacamole is a popular and delicious avocado-containing dip, and you need very little time or expertise to make it. After you cut an avocado in half, you simply scoop out some of the fruit into a mixing dish. You can add minced raw garlic, chopped red onion and fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice. Fresh tomatoes are popular and tasty additions. Consider adapting any dip recipes to include avocados, which provide a creamy texture and thicker consistency to any dip.

Mousse

You can even eat avocado for dessert, by making a simple mousse. This healthy treat includes mashed avocado, powdered cacao or cocoa plus stevia or other sweetener. Serving it with fresh strawberries, bananas or cherries—or a mixture of fresh fruits—yields a beautiful dessert. Depending on your taste, you might get by without an added sweetener in your mousse, because the fresh fruit provides plenty of sweetness.

Sandwiches

Whether for lunchtime or any other point in the day, sandwiches are a standard go-to meal for many busy people. For variety, taste and an increased health quotient in sandwiches, add avocado slices to the menu. Or mash the avocado and spread it on the bread, on top of or as a substitute for mayonnaise. Avocado is especially tasty with sandwich meats such as turkey and ham.

Smoothies

For a deliciously nutritious start to your day, toss avocado pieces, or even a whole avocado, into your breakfast smoothie in the blender. Green smoothies that include spinach, kale, celery and a few chunks of fresh fruit taste great along with avocados. Although vegetable and fruit smoothies can be on the thin side, including avocado results in thicker, creamier drinks.

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/ways-eat-avocados-4593.html