Made From Scratch: Avocado Hummus

If you can't decide between hummus or guacamole, this avocado hummus is the best of both worlds.

I'm trying to be better about having healthy snacks on hand at all times. So, instead of dipping into my not-so-secret chocolate stash, I can instead reach for a healthier option when that mid-afternoon hunger arises.

One of my favorite easy-to-make snacks is hummus. At heart, hummus is a combination of garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. Given its simple base ingredients, hummus is easy to customize with different flavor profiles.

For this hummus, I looked to the flavors of guacamole for inspiration. Lime juice replaces the lemon juice and a pinch of cumin gives the hummus a warm and smokey spicy flavor. And of course, it's not guacamole without avocado.

Avocados have been on sale at our local grocery store lately, and I can't help but grab three or four nearly every time I stop in. Avocado toast (with a runny egg on top, of course), guacamole, you name it, if it has an avocado in it, there's a good chance I will love it.

This avocado hummus is perfect for sharing, but don't expect to bring home any leftovers! (In fact, next time I'm totally going to make a double-batch and will be leaving some at home for later!)

Avocado Hummus (printer-friendly version)
makes about 1 1/2 cups

2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 16-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 avocado, pitted and peeled
3 tablespoons tahini
juice of 1 lime (5 - 6 tablespoons)
pinch (1/8 teaspoon) ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
fresh cilantro, for garnish

1. Add the garlic cloves to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until minced.
2. Add the chickpeas, salt, avocado, tahini, and lime juice to the food processor. Process until coarsely pureed, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
3. Add in the olive oil and process until smooth.
4. Season with additional salt if necessary. Spoon the hummus into a serving bowl and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve alongside pita bread, tortilla chips, crackers, toasted bread slices, or fresh veggies.

What's For Lunch: Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich

I was in the mood for a simple sandwich the other day and got a hankering for an egg salad sandwich. Quite awhile back, Ashley at never homemaker posted a recipe for an avocado egg salad wrap sandwich, and I made a note to myself at the time that I should try it out. Fast forward nearly a year later, and what with it being hardboiled egg season (aka post-Easter), I finally got around to giving the recipe a whirl. Although Ashley includes curry powder in her recipe, I decided I just wanted some simple flavors, so I only seasoned my salad with a little salt and pepper, and in lieu of mayo, I subbed in the plain Greek yogurt I had on hand.

Though it might not be the most amazing sandwich ever made, it is still quite tasty and definitely filling. The addition of avocado bumps up a plain old egg salad to something with a little more panache, and amps up the nutritional content as well. What's not to love about that?

Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich (printer-friendly version)
makes 2 sandwiches

2 hardboiled eggs
1/2 avocado, peeled and diced into small cubes
2 tablespoons nonfat plain Greek yogurt
pinch sea salt

pinch freshly ground black pepper

baby spinach leaves [optional]
2 ciabatta rolls, sliced in half

1. In a small bowl, use a fork to roughly chop the hardboiled eggs. Stir in the cubed avocado and Greek yogurt. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Add a scoop of the avocado egg salad to one half of a ciabatta roll (add some spinach leaves if desired). Serve immediately. [Note: If you have leftovers, the avocado will likely turn brown; you can try to preserve the green color by adding in a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, but I'd recommend using the avocado egg salad all at once if possible.]

(adapted from this never homemaker recipe)

What's For Dessert: "There's What in My Pudding?" Chocolate Pudding

Last week, Ashley at {never} homemaker posted a recipe for black bean + avocado chocolate pudding, and I was immediately intrigued. I had used avocado in a chocolate mousse recipe before, but I had never used black beans in a dessert recipe. (Though I've seen plenty of recipes for black bean brownies and the like, so I knew it was "a thing.") Since I had the ingredients on hand along with a hankering for some chocolate pudding, I decided to give the recipe a try. I did tweak a couple of things, such as replacing the almond milk with coconut milk, which I still had leftover in the fridge from a different recipe.

I think this is definitely one of those recipes that you will either love or hate. You can place me firmly in the "love" category. The black beans give a little "earthy" edge to the flavor, but I found that the flavors melded together pretty well, particularly after a couple of days chilling in the fridge. The addition of a tiny spoonful of mini chocolate chips also helps to amp up the chocolate flavor and add a contrasting crunchy texture to the smoothness of the pudding.

Give it a whirl, and let me know what you think!

There's What in My Pudding? Chocolate Pudding (printer-friendly version)
makes 4-6 servings

1 ripe avocado, pitted and flesh scooped out
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 - 1/2 cup light coconut milk

2 tablespoons honey 

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
mini semi-sweet chocolate chips [stir in at the end, optional]

1. Melt the chocolate chips in a double-broiler over medium-high heat. Stir with a rubber spatula to ensure even melting. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine together the avocado and black beans. Slowly add in 1/4 cup of the coconut milk, pulsing between additions.
3. Add in the honey, cocoa powder, melted chocolate chips, chia seeds, and vanilla extract. Process until smooth. Add in additional coconut milk to achieve your preferred consistency. I added in about 1/4 cup more.
4. Spoon the pudding into a bowl with a tight lid. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.
5. If desired, stir in about a teaspoon of mini chocolate chips into each portion of chocolate pudding before serving.

 (adapted from this {never} homemaker recipe)

Snacktime: Simple Guacamole

My truly simple "guacamole" recipe involves just scooping the avocado flesh out of its shell, placing it in a bowl, and roughly mashing it up. However, when I proposed a snack of guacamole to D this evening, he suggested I take it up a notch. So, I amped up this guacamole with the usual culprits: salt, pepper, garlic, lime juice, and just a smidge of salsa.

Simple Guacamole (printer-friendly version)
makes enough for two

1 ripe avocado, pit removed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
juice from 1/2 a lime
1 tablespoon salsa
1 clove garlic, finely minced

1. Use a spoon to scoop the flesh of the avocado into a bowl.
2. Add in the salt, pepper, lime juice, salsa, and minced garlic.
3. Stir to combine. I prefer my guacamole to be a little chunky, so I stir more with the side of a spoon to cut up the avocado into small pieces.
4. Serve immediately.

What's For Dinner: Chilled Coconut-Avocado Soup

This past Thursday, thanks to four-and-a-half years of orthodontia during my younger years, I was lucky enough to have a little periodontal work done (after putting it off for over a decade) -- the result being that for a few days soft foods were on the menu and crunchy stuff was out. Given that it was about a million degrees outside (slight exaggeration), I also had no desire to turn the oven on when it came time to make dinner. Luckily, a recipe for a chilled soup had caught my eye a few weeks ago, so I decided that now was the right time to give it a whirl. Making the soup is easy as all you do is toss the ingredients in the blender, hit puree, then chill the resulting mixture until nice and cool. Super-simple for a hot summer's day, regardless of whether you've just had your gums worked on!

Chilled Coconut-Avocado Soup (printer-friendly version)

makes two servings

1 avocado, pit removed and peeled (I just used a spoon to scoop out the good stuff)

1 1/4 cups organic low-sodium vegetable stock

1 cup organic light coconut milk

1/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Add all of the ingredients to a blender

2. Hit puree!

3. Blend until smooth.

4. Pour into two bowls and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

5. Eat up!

 (adapted from this recipe)

What's For Lunch: Avocado, Portobello Mushroom and Muenster Cheese Sandwich

Another lunch featuring avocado! Since I had the remaining avocado half sitting all by its lonesome in the fridge, I decided it'd make an excellent filling for a sandwich. In addition to avocado, this sandwich also features sauteed baby portobello mushrooms, muenster cheese, and some hummus. This sandwich can easily be made under 15 minutes, if not under 10! The perfect simple sandwich (with complex flavors!) for a busy workday.

Avocado, Portobello Mushroom and Muenster Cheese Sandwich 
(printer-friendly version)
makes one sandwich

1 t olive oil
1 C sliced baby portobello mushrooms
2 slices bread
1 T hummus
2 slices muenster cheese
1/2 avocado, cut into slices

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Saute the mushrooms until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. Toast the bread.
3. Slather one side of each slice of bread with hummus.
4. Add a slice of muenster cheese to each bread slice.
5. Layer the slices avocado on one bread half.
6. Add the sauteed mushrooms evenly over each slice of bread.
7. Carefully place both halves of the sandwich together.
8. Cut the sandwich into two triangles.
9. Eat!

Snacktime: Curried Tofu and Avocado Dip with Rosemary Baked Pita Chips

Before heading to Whole Foods this weekend, I flipped through my binder of recipes to search for a little shopping inspiration. One of the recipes that caught my eye was from a recent issue of Food & Wine magazine for a dip made with silken tofu and avocado. I've never used silken tofu before, so I figured now was as good a time as any to give it a try.

Curried Tofu and Avocado Dip with Rosemary Baked Pita Chips 
(printer-friendly version)

makes 10+ servings

For the dip:

7 oz silken tofu, drained (about 1/2 a package -- I weighed out the 7 oz using a food scale)

1 Haas avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped

1/2 C nonfat Greek yogurt (I used a single-serving container of Chobani Greek yogurt)

1 t grated lime zest (one lime)

2 T fresh lime juice (one lime)

1 garlic clove

1 t curry powder

1 1/2 t honey

freshly ground black pepper

fine sea salt

1. Combine the tofu, avocado, Greek yogurt, lime zest, lime juice, garlic clove, curry powder, and honey in the bowl of a food processor. Puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Spoon into a bowl with a lid and refrigerate until ready to eat.

 (adapted from this Food & Wine recipe)

{dip ingredient mise en place}

Rosemary Baked Pita Chips (printer-friendly version)

12 small pita rounds (or 4 whole wheat pitas)

1 T olive oil

1 T chopped rosemary

fine sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Cut the small pita rounds into halves. (If using regular-sized pitas, cut each pita pocket in half and then into six wedges.)

3. Place the cut pita wedges into a bowl. Add in the olive oil and rosemary. Season liberally with the fine sea salt. Toss to combine the ingredients.

4. Spread the pita wedges onto a baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the wedges are slightly browned and crispy.

5. Cool on a wire rack.

{pita wedges ready for the oven}