Avocado Fries

I’m not big into fried foods. I don’t eat meat, so there goes the fried chicken and everything else I’d just rather have….unfried? But these. THESE. I think the fact that they’re made from avocado – one of the major loves of my life –  makes up for the fact that they have been deep-fried in a vat of oil. It cancels out, or something.

Anyway.

I can’t take the credit for these — my friend Aviva found the recipe online, and when she and Emma came over for dinner last night, we gave them a shot along with a totally delicious sweet potato + fig lasagna. (Jealous?)

Warning: DO NOT fry these in a wok! It gets WAY too hot! We learned the hard way, and by “hard way” I mean “started a mini fire in my kitchen when the boiling oil splashed all over the kitchen wall, floor, computer, body, iPhone and everything else within a five foot radius causing the three us to run from the kitchen shrieking “. Definitely use a dish a little more shallow. Trust me on this one.

We paired these with our favorite hot sauce, and, oil burns aside**, they came out great!

Quick Note: the batter for these contains egg. You could definitely make these vegan by frying them in something like this.

** See exhibit C.

Basil Avocado Pesto with Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it: this one was NOT my idea! This one belongs to Chloe Coscarelli, at ChefChloe.com. It’s such a simple idea – add avocado to an already amazing thing, PESTO. Darn you Chloe, for thinking of this before I did!

This entire meal took, from start to finish, 15 minutes to make so you’ll have zero excuses for not making this! I tweaked a few things: I replaced pine nuts with walnuts (a cheaper way of making pesto!) and cut down on the olive oil from 1/2 cup to barely a 1/4 cup, but the gist is still the same. This pesto is creamy, garlic-y and, of course, packed with BASIL — compliments of Herbert himself.

What You Need: (Makes about 6 servings)
3/4 bag of whole wheat spaghetti
1 bunch basil leaves…the more the better!
1/2 cup walnuts
2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup of oil (or a little less)
1/2 tsp salt
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

What You Do:
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add pasta, and cook it according to the directions on the box.

2. While the pasta is cooking, process the basil, walnuts, olive oil, avocado, garlic and lemon juice.

3. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it. Toss the pasta with the pesto and add salt and pepper to taste. I went crazy with the fresh ground pepper and added a TON to it. It will also need some salt, so be sure to taste and add before serving. This recipe makes a lot of pasta, so I had it for a few dinners and a few lunches. Perfect!

Enjoy!

Pesto “Pizza” – Passover

Basil and avocado – two of my favorite things in the entire world. (I feel like I say that about a lot of things….oops?) I’m a believer that anything with either of these two ingredients is bound to be delicious. This Passover, I’ve been eating avocado every single day. Without my usual beans and tofu, what ELSE is a girl to do!?

I made this today and it was gooooood.

What You Need:

1 box of basil leaves

4 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 tomato

1/2 an avocado

1 piece of matzah

What You Do:

To make the pesto – put the garlic, pine nuts, basil, oil, and spices in a food processor and blend away. Taste as you go until its jussssst right. Spread the pesto on the matzah, add on sliced tomatoes and avocado, sprinkle with salt and ground pepper. Pop in the oven at 400 degrees for 5-8 minutes (careful – the matzah will burn!) and enjoy.

Note: Matzah can be a tricky little thing, especially when using it for pizza or sandwiches. It breaks very easily. A trick to prevent the breaking is to lightly wet the matzah before using it. Sprinkle a few drops of water on it and spread around with your fingers. It gives it more….flexibility, if you will.

Pasta Della California

this is a recipe i got from the PPK, obviously.

what first attracted me to this one (besides from it being super simple) was the fact that it contained TWO whole avocados and EIGHT cloves of garlic. hey, heaven.

it’s ridiculously easy to make, and is a really simple tasting dish. most pasta are covered with cheese and sauce and have very strong flavors (not that’s a bad thing!) so to have a pasta that wasn’t too overpowering was different but delicious. if you love avocado (and who doesn’t?) then you should definitely try making this.

what you need:

1/2 pound linguine
3 cups broccoli, tops cut into small florettes, stalks sliced thinly
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced (yes 8, that’s not a typo!)
1/4 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons lime juice (juice from one lime, depending on the juiciness of your lime)
1/2 teaspoon salt
several dashes fresh black pepper
4 cups loosely packed arugula leaves
2 avocados, peeled and sliced into 1 inch chunks

what you do:

Bring a large pot of water to boil and prep all your ingredients while the water boils. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook as per package directions, usually about 10 minutes. In the last minute of cooking you will be adding the broccoli, so keep that in mind.

Preheat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil garlic, lime zest and red pepper flakes and gently heat, stirring often for about 2 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the wine and bring the heat up reduce the wine, about 2 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, lime juice, salt and fresh black pepper and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to simmer and add the arugula.

By this point the pasta should be almost done so add the broccoli and cook for one more minute. Drain in a colander.

When the arugula is wilted add the broccoli and pasta to the pan and use a pasta spoon to toss it around, making sure to get everything coated in garlic, for about 3 more minutes. Add the avocado and turn the heat off. Gently toss the pasta to incorporate the avocado without smushing it just until it is warmed through, about a minute. Serve with generous doses of fresh black pepper. There is usually a lot of garlic left in the pan, so be sure to spoon that over your bowls of pasta.