How To Peel An Avocado

I know I rave, maybe too much, about avocados. However, today I learned something new about the incredible green fruit. I had a couple perfectly ripe avocados at work today. Of course, because I slept in as usual, I didn’t have time to pit them and scoop out the flesh at home. Instead, I took the whole fruits to work with me along with a paring knife.

I also forgot a spoon to scoop out the goods when it came time for my avocado break. I was just about to go find a disposable plastic spoon when my co-worker told me there was no need. My co-worker is educated in the culinary arts and spent several years in the kitchens of resorts in Italy and Western Canada and is still a disappointment to me that she decided to give up her dream to work at a boring car dealership.

Anyway, all I needed was my paring knife to get the job done. I simply had to slice the avocado in half, length-wise as usual. She even had an easier way of popping out the pit but she felt I needed a ‘real’ knife for that. I had to pop out the pit the old fashioned way.

Now, I just needed to lay the halves on the counter, on a sheet of paper towel, and cut the flesh length-wise around 4 times using the tip of the knife. It wasn’t necessary to cut through the skin, however, I found it even easier to peel if the cut did go through.

Once the flesh was cut in lengths, all I had to do was take the avocado and fold it backwards. The skin just peeled away from the flesh – kind of in the manner than orange skin peels away from an orange when it’s cut in slices.

The great thing was that there was no bent spoon handle and not much of a mess on the fingers. This may not be a new concept to many people out there but it was to me and with my love of avocado, this technique is invaluable. For those who already knew, why have you kept it a secret?

Other avocado related posts you may enjoy:

Easy Hot Lunch For Vegans On The Go
Meet Ricardo!
Peeing Red And Other Great Things About Beets

Peeing Red And Other Great Things About Beets

Despite the fact that they make you pee red, beets are awesome for many other reasons as well!

Beets are full of betaine which promotes a healthy liver. A healthy liver breaks down fats in a more efficient manner therefore aiding weight loss and preventing fatigue and nausea. A healthy liver also is more capable of ridding the body of alcohol – possibly why beets are so popular in Eastern Europe (zing!).

Beets are chock full of antioxidants that rid the body of nasty free radicals. Beets are especially thought to be quite useful in the prevention of lung and skin cancer.

Speaking of lungs, beets are exceptionally helpful when it comes to cardio-vascular health. Therefore, all of us runners should be on the beets at least once per week, if not more.

Beets are also a great source of calcium, magnesium and potassium with a spot of vitamin C added in for good measure. When you use the greens, as well, the calcium amount goes through the roof. Boiled beet root and beet greens are great on their own and make a great compliment to any meal.

Now, to the fun part. Beeturia. Some may find it gross. But, peeing red is pretty darn cool! It sometimes can take overnight for the effects of the beet dye to reach the bladder. Don’t forget in the morning that you had beets the night before! The red urine could be quite a scare if you think it really is blood and not the natural dye of the food you ate for dinner.

Beeturia doesn’t affect everyone the same, but eat enough beets and you’ll be seeing red. It’s a great party joke and probably a really good prank to pull in the dressing room shower after the hockey or football game (not that I would ever do this or condone doing this...).

In other news...

Ricardo has not sprouted yet. My avocado project that I mentioned in this earlier post, is still waiting to spread its wings. Ricardo is looking a little shrivelled and possibly water-logged. I hope this is a good sign.

Also...

I’m very disappointed in myself. I missed a chance to trip down to Toronto and run around on the subway in my gitch. This last Saturday was apparently ‘ride the subway in your underwear day’ or something like that. I’m not even sure what the cause was if any, but missing a chance to walk around half naked in one of the largest cities in the world is a major letdown. There’s always next year...

Check out these other great posts:

In The Beginning...
Book Review: The Man Who Swam The Amazon
Uh Oh! Does The Beer You Drink Contain Animal Products?

Easy Hot Lunch For Vegans On The Go

Want a quick, healthy and hot lunch? Try this one on for size. I'll almost guarantee you'll love it. It's called Toasted Fried Guac Sandwich. The ingredients are readily available at your local grocer, if not already hanging out in your fridge. All you need is a no-stick frying pan and you're all set.

Ingredients

• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1/2 celery stick, diced
• 2-3 heaping TBSP of diced onion (preferably red onion)
• 3 mushrooms, chopped
• 1 large clove of garlic, minced
• bread, toasted
• 3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• mustard (optional)

Your avocado should have skin that's going brown and is a little soft to the touch. However, we're not making a raw guacamole, so it can be a little less ripe. As long as it's easy to remove the pit and scoop the flesh from the skin, we're all set.

In a small mixing bowl, dice up the avocado flesh as small as you can. Dice up the tomato, celery, onion and add to the mix as well as the chopped mushroom. Using a good garlic mincer, crush the clove on top of the rest of the mix. No need to mix everything together - the frying process will take care of that.

Put your frying pan on medium heat. When it has heated up sufficiently, add the olive oil then the vegetable mix. Even with a non-stick pan and olive oil, the avocado will have a tendency to stick to the pan. Be sure to mix often to reduce the sticking.

In the meantime, prepare your toast. There is enough in the pan to make two very thick sandwiches or four thinner ones.

When the mix starts to show signs of charring and the avocado is mushy, the cooking is done. Spoon the mix onto the toast. I add mustard but you can add (or not add) any condiment you want. I'm sure a nice hummus would make a great spread for the sandwich.

This would make a great filling for a pita pocket or wrap. In fact, try it as filler next time you have vegan taco night.

Meet Ricardo!

I've wanted to do this for a long time. Finally, while cleaning out the crisper in the fridge, I came across a neglected avocado. The time was now. I've wanted to try and grow an Avocado tree from seed. It's a useless pursuit as it takes an Avocado tree a good decade to produce fruit. But, if everything we did was practical, we'd live a pretty boring life.

I've named my avocado pit, Ricardo. Why? I can picture Ricardo Montalban saying the word 'avocado' in a way no one else can with that little smirk on his lips and his little friend Tattoo at his side. I'm a little concerned about Ricardo. The fridge is acting up a bit and the outside rind of the avocado was slightly frozen. The flesh was still soft so I'm hoping Ricardo will develop like a normal young avocado. Word is, if there's no action after two weeks, toss out your young and start over again.

In saying that, I've also read that it can take up to six weeks for a sprout and roots to appear. Time is on my side, I'm not banking on the success of my avocado farm - especially in wintery Ontario, Canada.

I've taken the classic method and stuck Ricardo with three toothpicks and then hung him from the top of a small mason jar with his bottom submerged. Avocado pits are directional and the pointy end needs to be up while the bigger, flatter end needs to be in the water.

I need to change the water every week so that it remains oxygenated. I've read that this can wait until a bi-weekly frequency but, I figure, only the best for my Ricardo. Besides, in winter time, the house is so dry that the water will probably evaporate fast enough to need re-filling more than once per week.

Once Ricardo sprouts, he will need to be transplanted to a pot filled with rich soil around the time his roots reach 5-6 inches in length. However, that is a step I'll worry about when the time comes. For now, I just want to get Ricardo out of the incubation stage. Look for updates on Ricardo's progress.