Avocado Pancakes

Avocado...pancakes? Yes. These were definitely an experiment, but one that turned out very well! They were Dave's idea, and a very good one! We made these last summer and paired them with fresh tomatoes from my backyard. Yum.

Pancakes:

3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 avocado; cut into chunks
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons butter; melted
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt

In a medium-sized bowl whisk the eggs and set aside.

In a blender puree the milk, avocado, lime zest, and lime juice until smooth. Add the puree to the egg along with the melted butter and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. 

Heat a griddle to medium-high heat. Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter onto the griddle and smooth it into a round shape. Cook the pancakes for 3-4 minutes, flipping once, until both sides are golden brown.


Topping:

1 pint of cherry tomatoes; quartered
2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro; minced
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients above, and serve alongside or on top of pancakes. 

Original recipe here

Birthday dinner #2: Oaxacan Tlayuda with Guacamole

Birthday dinner with Dave this time! He doesn't like serious cooking (aka with recipes) very much but went all out for my birthday :). According to my Moosewood cookbook, tlayudas are tortillas baked or grilled with all sorts of toppings, like Mexican pizzas. There are a bunch of steps involved but, very tasty!

1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 cup diced onions
3/4 cup diced bell peppers
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 15-oz can pinto beans (1/4 cup of liquid reserved)
2 whole grain tortillas (or 4 small ones)
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded green cabbage or slaw mix
1 cup diced fresh tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Warm the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the garlic, onions, bell peppers, salt, cumin, and cayenne and cook, stirring often, until soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Drain the pinto beans, reserving about 1/4 cup of the liquid. In a food processor or blender, puree the beans, cooked onions and peppers, and just enough of the reserved bean liquid to make a thick, creamy spread. Add more salt and cayenne to taste.

Place the tortillas on an unoiled baking sheet. Spread each with half of the pureed beans (or 1/4 if you use 4 small tortillas) and top with cheese. In a preheated 450 degree oven, bake until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Spread 1/2 cup (or 1/4 cup for 4 tortillas) of the cabbage or slaw mix on each tortilla and bake for another 5 minutes. Toss the tomatoes with the cilantro and sprinkle on top of the cabbage. Bake for a couple of minutes, just until the tomatoes are hot.


Optional (but highly recommended!): Simple Guacamole

2 large ripe Haas avocados
2 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 tbsp minced red onions (optional)
pinch of cayenne or dash of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce (optional)

Slice lengthwise around each avocado down to the pit. Twist the halves apart, and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh and mash it in a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and salt, adding more to taste. Stir in the red onions and cayenne, if using. Serve immediately.




Both recipes from "Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health"

Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

This may be the prettiest salad I have ever seen. And perhaps the most delicious. It took a bit of time to make (longer than expected), but it was more than 100% worth it. I was put off by the amount of oil in the dressing - 6 tablespoons - but it is really quite tasty. I had never fully seeded a pomegranate before, but I used the water method (breaking it open under water and letting the seeds fall to the bottom) and it worked really well. Does take some time though. Anyway, JUST MAKE THIS! It will be well worth your time.
(Note: this recipe says that it serves 5, but I would say about 3 meal-sized servings. For me anyway.)

Salad:
1/2 cup dry quinoa
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
1 orange, peeled and segments chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup pomegranate arils (about 1 pomegranate worth)
1 cup corn (thawed if frozen, can also use canned)
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper

Lemon Vinaigrette:
2 lemons, juiced (need 1/4 cup juice)
2 garlic cloves, microplaned or finely minced
dash of sweetener (agave nectar, stevia or white sugar)
salt & pepper
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil


1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside to cool.

2. For the Lemon Vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake to combine. Or, add lemon juice, garlic, sweetener, salt and pepper into a small bowl and whisk in oil.

3. Combine cooled quinoa with red onion, orange segments, avocado, beans, pomegranate arils, corn, cilantro, salt and pepper. Pour Lemon Vinaigrette over the salad and stir to combine. Serve cold or at room temperature.


Original recipe here 

Brown Sugar Banana Cupcakes with Avocado Buttercream

I haven't been great about posting over the past month - not due to lack of cooking, but strange busy-ness and otherwise lazy-ness. I've been making a lot of salads from Mark Bittman's cookbook - as it has been surprisingly hot and humid over the past two weeks and cooking for longs periods of time sounds extremely unappealing. It has finally cooled down (yay) and the past few days have been sunny and in the 70s. I biked almost the entire Minuteman Bikeway yesterday - which was fun, but was not good news for my quads. That's a story for another time.

Last week was busy with work events, and on Friday we had a BBQ as a sort of send-off for those who are leaving us soon for grad school (sad face). Work BBQ = a great opportunity for cupcakes. I found this recipe on Tastespotting, and I can't say no to something with avocado. And banana. Together.

Brown Sugar Banana Cupcakes with Avocado Buttercream

Cupcakes

makes 12-20 cupcakes, depending on your scoop
1 1/3 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sour cream (I used yogurt instead because I hate to buy sour cream for a recipe and waste it....the cupcakes were still delicious)
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Combine dry flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside. In a bowl, whisk egg and add brown sugar, mixing until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Add sour cream and melted butter and mix. Stir in dry ingredients, then add mashed bananas and mix until batter comes together. The batter will be thick. Using an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measure, scoop batter in liners. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely.


Avocado Buttercream
2 ripe avocados
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Cream avocado and butter together until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and add vanilla. More sugar can be added if you’d like the frosting thicker. Frosting can be store in the fridge for up to 3 days. I recommend refrigerating the cupcakes.

Original recipe here 

Beet and Avocado Salad (Mark Bittman style)

 

I am a horrible person, and I have never cooked beets before. They scare me. However, after tackling the red velvet today, I thought I could handle some red beets.

I bought the beets from Market Basket (aka hell) yesterday, and the only kind they had were called "Candy Cane" beets, and I was curious as to why (they looked normal on the outside, maybe just a bit more pink than most). But, once I cut into them, it was obvious why they were named "Candy Cane!"

 

I am so excited to cook beets more often now that I know how easy they are to cook. Beets are definitely on my list of top 5 favorite foods (maybe I'll actually make one of those someday). MB's recipe called for cooked beets, either boiled or roasted. I chose the roasting method, as MB advised this was the way to get the best flavor. It was great because after roasting them, the skin just peeled off by hand, so there was no messy peeling involved.


Ingredients:

4 small beets or 3 large beets
2 avocados, ripe but firm, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper
one small red onion, diced
1 tarragon leaf, minced (*I bought tarragon and realized it smelled like anise, which I hate, so I left this out)

Heat oven to 400F. Wash beets, wrap in aluminum foil, and place on a baking sheet. Bake the beets for 45-90 minutes, or until a knife can be inserted with light pressure.

Allow beets to cool, then peel skin off (should come off by hand). Chop beets and layer with avocados.

For the vinaigrette, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. According to MB, you need to put this in a blender, but I just stirred by hand and it was fine. Add the onion to 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette, and pour over the salad.


(Recipe from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian")

Chilled Avocado and Cumber Soup

Here's another Tastespotting find - I promise I'm going to branch out soon! I have Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian," and I'm going to start making some recipes from there.

Anyway, I made this chilled soup in honor of springtime, specifically the fact that I can turn off the heat and start to open windows! It was very refreshing and cool, not at all like a winter soup. I didn't think it tasted great before it chilled, but once complete with the diced cucumbers and onion, it was delicious.


Ingredients needed for 8 servings (each about 2/3 cup):

• 1 can (12 fluid ounces) evaporated lowfat 2% milk
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 large or 3 small ripe avocados, peeled and dice
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sliced unpeeled cucumber
• 1/3 cup snipped fresh dill
• Diced cucumbers, finely chopped red onion and chopped fresh dill for garnish (essential!)

Combine evaporated milk and vinegar in small bowl; let stand for 15 minutes.

Place avocados, water, evaporated milk mixture, 1 cup cucumber and 1/3 cup dill in a food processor, and blend until smooth. Season with coarse salt and ground black pepper. Cover; refrigerate for 1 hour (can be made up to 4 hours in advance).

Pour soup into eight small bowls or glasses; garnish with cucumber, red onion and dill.

NOTE: eat this soup within a day or two after making it, since the avocado will cause the soup to turn brown (just like having cut avocado in the fridge)

Original recipe here 

Avocado Frozen Yogurt

What better to do on a Saturday morning when your car is getting fixed? Make ice cream!!

My roommate has an ice cream maker, and I've been planning on using it for a while. I stumbled upon this avocado frozen yogurt recipe, and knew it was time to experiment.

Bottom line: this recipe incorporates a lot of lemon and lime, and certainly tastes more like lemon and lime than avocado. Also, it requires a lot of tools, so be prepared to do a lot of dishes.

The original recipe calls for vanilla extract, but does not tell you when to put it in. I think it's supposed to go in before the egg, because that is the order it is listed, but who knows. I added it.

I had a hard time finding whole milk yogurt, and ended up using Faje Total (greek yourt). I definitely did not have 1 tbsp of both lemon and lime zest, because I hate zesting, and I zested just one lemon and 1 lime. I'm also pretty sure that I let the egg curdle, because my mixture never coated the back of the spoon after 8 minutes and I turned the heat up on the stove top. I think this was okay since I strained it...

Anyway, all issues aside, the "frozen yogurt" (made with whole milk and whole milk yogurt) is certainly yummy. However, when it freezes completely, it gets rock hard, so it needs to be thawed for a bit before you can eat it. Try it, if you're up to the task!