After reading our article Do you Know What Avocado Does to your Body? we all know the amazing benefits avocado gives us. But eating guacamole, avocado salad, and avocado toast every day can get a little dull. How about a coffee-avocado milkshake? That’s right! That’s just one of the 12 avocado possibilities in this article:
1. AVOCADO FRIES
You don’t even need a fryer: Just slice the avocado, dip the slices in egg, roll in breadcrumbs and bake at 400.
YIELD: Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons ground flax
- 1 teaspoon mild chili powder
- 1 egg
- 2 avocados
- Vegetable oil cooking spray
- Salt
- Hot sauce
PREPARATION
Heat oven to 400. In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons ground flax and 1 teaspoon mild chili powder. In another bowl, whisk 1 egg. Cut 2 peeled avocados into 16 wedges, dip wedges in egg, press into breadcrumb mixture and transfer to a baking sheet. Coat with vegetable oil cooking spray. Bake until outside is crispy, 10 to 12 minutes. Season with salt and drizzle with hot sauce.
2. CREAMY AVOCADO SALAD DRESSING
Put the ingredients of a basic vinaigrette in a blender. Add chopped avocado. Blend until creamy.
BASIC VINAIGRETTE
To make a bare bones vinaigrette all you need is vinegar (sherry, champagne, balsamic, red, white, or rice wine vinegar) and oil (go with a neutral vegetable oil like grapeseed for a mild base, or your best extra-virgin olive oil for grassier undertones). Traditional vinaigrette recipes call for a ratio of three parts oil to one part vinegar. However, some people prefer their dressings to pack more punch and choose a 2:1 oil to vinegar ratio. Some vinegars have a higher level of acidity than others, so it’s always a good idea to sample your dressing and adjust accordingly.
To make your vinaigrette, whisk a little kosher or fine sea salt into some vinegar until it dissolves. Start with about 1/4 teaspoon salt per tablespoon of vinegar. Keep whisking and slowly drizzle in double the amount of oil as vinegar, then taste.
If desired, gradually add more oil, tasting incrementally, until you achieve a balance of acidity and fat you enjoy. This two-ingredient dressing will never fully emulsify, but a vigorous whisking will hold it together long enough to dress your salad (just shake or whisk again before serving if you make extra to enjoy throughout the week). Finish the dressing off with some freshly ground black pepper.
3. CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
Combine 1 very ripe avocado, 6 semisweet ounces melted chocolate, 3 tablespoons honey, and a pinch of salt in a food processor until smooth. Give to unsuspecting friends and see if they can guess the secret ingredient (spoiler alert: they cant).
4. YUM! GELATO
YIELD: Makes about 1 quart
ACTIVE TIME: 20 min
TOTAL TIME: 2 3/4 hr (includes freezing)
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 (4- by 1-inch) strips fresh orange zest
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 fir-ripe California avocados (1 to 1 1/4 lb total)
- 1 (500-mg) vitamin C tablet, crushed to a powder
- Special equipment: an ice cream maker
PREPARATION
Bring 1 3/4 cups milk, 1/2 cup sugar, zest, and a pinch of salt to a simmer in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Whisk together cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup milk in a small bowl until smooth, then whisk into simmering milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and boil 1 minute. Transfer mixture to a metal bowl, then set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and cool completely, stirring frequently. Discard zest.
Quarter, pit, and peel avocados, then pure with vitamin C and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor until smooth. Add milk mixture and blend well.
Freeze avocado mixture in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until hardened, about 1 hour.
Cooks’ note: Ice cream can be made 1 week ahead.
5. BETTER DEVILED EGGS
Make a basic guacamole and use it to fill eggs as you would deviled eggs. When people say “OMG what is this?” say “Green Devils.
6. BAKE YOUR EGGS IN THEM
Crank the oven to 450. Slice and pit an avocado, put the halves in a baking dish, sprinkle with hot sauce, and crack an egg into each half. Bake for 12 minutes.
7. AN INDONESIAN MILKSHAKE
In Indonesia, this coffee-avocado milkshake is called es alpukat. You’ll call it oddly delicious.
YIELD: Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 ripe large California avocado
- 1/3 cup espresso or 1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed (not evaporated) milk
- 2 cups ice cubes
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
PREPARATION
Scoop avocado flesh into a blender, then pure with remaining ingredients until completely smooth, about 1 minute.
8. GRILL IT
Split and pit a few avocados, brush them with a little oil, slap them on a hot grill. It’ll take just a minute or two until they’re warm, creamy, and grill-marked?perfect for eating with that steak you just pulled off the grill, too.
9. TURN THEM INTO BROWNIES!
These dark chocolate babies are vegan, and gluten-free
INGREDIENTS
- Coconut oil or olive oil cooking spray, for the baking dish
- Flaxseed egg: 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal, plus 3 tablespoons warm water
- 3/4 cup gluten- free all- purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon aluminum- free baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon spirulina powder (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and mashed until smooth
- 1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup packed organic light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (preferably with a minimum of 65 percent cacao) or 1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (not milk or dairy chocolate)
PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly coat an 8-or 9-inch square baking dish with coconut oil spray and set aside (the smaller dish will yield slightly thicker brownies).
In a small bowl, combine the flaxseed meal and hot water; set aside to coagulate.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, spirulina, and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the avocado, water, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Using an electric mixer, beat in the brown sugar to combine until the avocado is smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and beat well to combine.
In a small bowl, combine the baking soda and apple cider vinegar. When the mixture fizzes, use a spatula to stir into the brownie batter along with the coagulated flaxseeds. Gently fold in the chocolate chips. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish, and, using the spatula, smooth the surface.
Bake until the sides of the brownies are dry and pulling away from the pan and the center resists light pressure, 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 1 hour. Then cut into 16 squares.
Clean green tip:
I love to bake with avocados! Since not all avocados are created equal, you may not have a 100 percent smooth batter, and that’s totally cool. If you can see some avocado pieces in the batter, don’t worry about it. Once the brownies are baked (and you taste them), you won’t even notice.
10. BLEND INTO A SOUP. A COLD SOUP
If you thought avocados were refreshing before, wait until you taste them blended and chilled.
YIELD: Makes 6 servings
ACTIVE TIME: 50 min
TOTAL TIME: 2 1/2 hr
INGREDIENTS:
For Soup
- 1 fresh or frozen ear of corn, shucked
- 4 cups plus 2 tablespoons water
- 1 garlic clove, smashed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/4 cups chopped white onion
- 1 fresh serrano chile, stemmed and coarsely chopped (including seeds)
- 2 firm-ripe California avocados (1 to 1 1/4 lb total)
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup crema or sour cream
For Cilantro Oil
- 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Special equipment: a 3/4-inch melon-ball cutter
PREPARATION
Make soup:
Roast corn on rack of gas burner over high heat, turning occasionally with tongs, until kernels are charred in spots, 4 to 5 minutes. (Alternatively, heat a dry well-seasoned cast-iron skillet and roast corn over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes.) Transfer corn to a cutting board and, when cool enough to handle, cut kernels from cob with a sharp knife, then cut cob into thirds.
Bring kernels, cob pieces, 4 cups water, garlic, salt, and 1/2 cup onion to a boil in a 3-quart saucepan and boil until liquid is reduced to about 3 cups, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool, uncovered. Discard cob pieces.
Pure corn mixture along with chile and remaining 3/4 cup onion in a blender, then pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on and then discarding solids. Return broth to cleaned blender.
Quarter, pit, and peel 1 avocado, then add to blender with 2 tablespoons lime juice and pure until smooth. Transfer soup to a bowl and cover surface with plastic wrap. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill soup at least 1 hour.
Prepare cilantro oil while soup chills:
Pure cilantro, oil, and salt in cleaned blender, scraping down sides of blender several times. Pour oil into cleaned fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and let drain 15 minutes (do not press on solids). Discard solids.
Assemble soup:
Halve and pit remaining avocado and scoop small balls from flesh with melon-ball cutter, then toss gently with remaining tablespoon lime juice in a bowl.
Whisk together crema and remaining 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl until smooth.
Season soup with salt and ladle into 6 shallow soup bowls. Divide avocado balls among bowls, then drizzle with crema and cilantro oil.
Cooks’ notes:
Soup can be chilled up to 1 day.?Cilantro oil can be made 3 hours ahead and chilled, covered.
11. SPIKE IT WITH RUM.
We kid you not: Rum (two types of rum, actually) gets blended with avocado and lime juice in this avocado daiquiri.
YIELD: Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
- 2 ounces light rum
- 2 ounces gold rum
- 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
- 2 ounces simple syrup
- 1/4 medium-ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
- 1/2 ounce half-and-half
- 1 1/2 cups ice
PREPARATION
Combine ingredients in blender and blend on high until just smooth, about 20 seconds. Divide mixture between two cocktail glasses and serve.
12. BAKE INTO A CAKE
Some recipes call for replacing the butter in a cake recipe with avocado. But why choose? That’s why we like this pound cake recipe, which uses both butter and avocado.
YIELD: Makes two 9×5-inch loaves
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ripe mashed avocados
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
PREPARATION
Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9×5-inch loaf pans and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add avocado and beat for another 2 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed for 1 minute after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed. Beat in vanilla.
With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture. Beat until just incorporated. Add the buttermilk and the remaining flour mixture. Beat until just incorporated. Remove bowl from the stand mixer, and finish incorporating the batter with a spatula.
Divide the batter between the pans and bake on alternating racks for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rotate racks and bake for another 15 to 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Cake will last, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to 4 days.
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