Guacamole

This is a very simple but very tasty recipe for Guacamole. How good is it? If you think you don’t like avocado try this recipe – it just might change your mind.

This was the first recipe I added to abitmoreveg – a simple recipe for Guacamole. I chose this because guacamole is very healthy, very satisfying and can be used as a treat food – with crisps or tortilla chips – or as part of a satisfying and nutritious snack – guacamole on brown bread – or as part of a filling meal – as a topping for stewed black beans.

Guacamole seems like a good recipe to start with for a new healthy eating regime. Avocados are a very good source of monounsaturated oleic acid which is said to lower the amount of LDL cholesterol and raise the amount of HDL cholesterol. Both LDL and HDL cholesterol are essential for your body but LDL cholesterol can stick to your artery walls, causing a build-up, which is why it’s necessary to have more HDL cholesterol as this type essentially clears out the LDL cholesterol. Also avocados are a great source of folate and vitamin E and C. The great thing about guacamole is that, as well as being a delicious and creamy snack dip, it stays good in the fridge for 3 – 5 days, so by having some around you can easily make a healthy and satisfying treat anytime you want.

How to tell if an avocado is ripe & how to ripen under-ripe ones

Press the skin gently with your fingers it should be a little soft, not give way completely but not feel stone like either. Just press gently otherwise you will bruise the fruit. In fact it’s a good idea to always buy avocados you know are under-ripe because it’s possible that the softness you feel is really bruising by some overly eager ripeness tester. You can ripen avocados just by leaving them in your fruit bowl with some bananas. The more ripe the bananas the faster the avocado will ripen.