Beyond the Toast: 4 Yummy Recipes Featuring Avocado

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not bashing the beloved avocado toast. In fact, the combination of toasted, sprouted bread, creamy avocado, hard boiled egg, and some Trader Joe’s “Everything But the Bagel” seasoning is one of my favorite breakfasts. And of course there’s always guacamole. But don’t stop there!

You can expand your use of avocado with these four tried and tested recipes, featuring a green smoothie, avocado dressing for your salad, chocolate avocado bread, and a chocolate avocado pudding.

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Some Quick Facts

Avocados are a fruit. Interestingly, they require another nearby avocado tree in order to be pollinated and grow, as they are not self-pollinating.

Avocados ripen off the tree. You can speed this process by placing them in a paper bag with a banana inside. (Although mine seem to ripen quickly just hanging out on my counter.)

The Hass variety account for 90% of avocados sold in the U.S.

Avocados are full of fiber, protein rich, contain B vitamins, and lots of good fat.

So why is the fat important? Fat helps absorb and assimilate fat soluble vitamins, like vitamins A, D, E, and K. If you’re not eating healthy fats, your body is not absorbing those vitamins very well.

Here’s a tip: For pretty slices atop a salad, once the avocado is halved and the pit is removed, slice your avocado all the way through the skin and then peel off the strips of skin from each slice.

On to the recipes!

Avocado Banana Smoothie

• 1 avocado, peeled and pitted
• 1 banana, peeled
• 1/2 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
• 2 cups ice
• honey (if needed)

Directions

Combine ingredients in a blender until smooth. Give this smoothie a taste before you add honey. I find this smoothie is perfectly sweet without honey added, but feel free to add a tablespoon or two if you want a sweeter smoothie.

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Avocado Dressing and Dip

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

• 1 avocado, peeled and pitted
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (Fage Total 0% works beautifully here)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• juice from one small lemon
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I like Lousiana for this recipe)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Blend avocado, yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sea salt, hot sauce, and black pepper together in a blender until smooth.

Notes

A smaller blender, like a Magic Bullet, works great for this volume of ingredients.

The salt and pepper can be adjusted to taste.

This recipe produces a wonderfully thick and creamy end result. If using as a dressing, use sturdy greens like romaine and mix your salad and dressing before serving. Or you could do what I do and pick whatever greens you want, and do the ol’ fork in the dressing first, then salad approach.

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Gluten Free Avocado Chocolate Bread

• 2 avocados, peeled and pitted
• 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 tablespoons coconut cream
• 3 tablespoons raw honey
• 2 room temperature eggs
• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips, with some extra to sprinkle on top

Directions

The directions for this amazing recipe can be found at: livinghealthywithchocolate.com

Notes

This isn’t a super sweet recipe. However, the chocolate chips add just the right amount of sweetness, in my opinion. Feel free to adjust the amount of honey, or the amount of chocolate chips for a sweeter finished product.

As is the case with most almond flour baked goods, I find this is even yummier after it’s been in the fridge overnight.

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Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

• 1 avocado, peeled and pitted
• 1/2 cup sucanat (Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Sucanat Brown Sugar is a great option)
• 1/4 cup unsweetended cacao (Navitas Organics Cacao Powder tastes amazing in this)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup water

Directions

1. Put avocado in a food processor or blender and add sucanat, cacao, vanilla, cinnamon, and 1/2 cup water.
2. Blend until completely smooth and you no longer see any avocado bits.
3. If too thick, add additional water a little bit at a time.

Notes

A smaller blender, like a Magic Bullet, works great for this recipe.

If you would like this recipe to be low carb, try a low glycemic sweetener instead of the sucanat. I love Trim Healthy Mama’s Gentle Sweet.

You will never have a wasted avocado in your house once you try this recipe. It’s such a delicious and easy dessert to make in a hurry. Special thanks to my sister-in-law, Tania Hayek Mercer, a Nutritionist and Chef, for this recipe!

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Feature Photo by Alejandro Duarte on Unsplash
Intro Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
All other photos featured on this post are copyrighted by Clover and Thyme.