My Evolving Love for Avocado

I think my first encounter with an avocado was in guacamole from Taco Bell. Ugh! Its green color and slimy texture, the thought of it even makes me cringe today.

It was at that point that I decided I didn’t like guacamole or avocados.

Fortunately I became a little more open minded as I grew up and I started to get interested in the stuff when I learned that people actually make their own guacamole. Hooray! I wasn’t locked into eating that which came out of a pump at fast food restaurants.

Lately I’ve found that I use avocado a lot. I like it on sandwiches, chopped on my salads and I too make my own guacamole. Extra chunky though, I like it to have lots of texture.

I am glad that most of us are past our fear of the fat in avocado. It was one of those good-for-you things that the fat-free craze scared a lot of us away from.

An avocado is loaded with healthy fatty acids that have actually been shown to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and raise good cholesterol (HDL). They are also full of potassium, folate and vitamin E.

Okay, enough of the healthy, yet boring stuff. Let me tell you why they came to mind this week.

I have felt the need to branch out of my traditional ways of using avocado and look for some new recipes. I had marked a recipe from an Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine from over a year ago. I finally decided to give the Avocado Salad with Cumin-Lime Dressing a try.

I was pleasantly surprised. It is super simple and it tasted so great! I’m always trying to figure out what kind of a side to have with tacos and this salad would be perfect. The cumin gives it a tex-mex flavor.

Instead of iceberg lettuce I used cabbage which made it a little crunchier and more like a slaw. I’d also plan to eat it within a few hours of making it. The moisture doesn’t hold up well in the fridge.

Any favorite avocado combos you want to share?