Adventures with Nutritious Food A Chocolate Addict Tries Avocado


Ever since I was a young, curly-headed child, I have been a very reluctant fruit and vegetable eater. When my husband and I started growing vegetables in our garden last year, I slowly began to come around. 

While I’m still no fan of the okra my husband can’t live without, I’ve learned squash and zucchini can be quite deliciou I have tried hard to work (non-fried) vegetables and (unsweetened) fruits into my diet, but I still have some improving to do. So, I made a vow to get one new fruit or vegetable every time we head to the grocery store and give it a go. 

I know I won’t like every fruit and vegetable I try. But there are so many strange fruits and veggies out there (ex. kohlrabi) that I have never tasted, and that is simply inexcusable. 

In hopes that you too might rise to the challenge with me and incorporate new fruits and vegetables into your life, I thought I would share my vegetable-eating adventures with you. I expect there will be plenty of weird colors, some messes and some strange looking dishes, but it will also be fun. You can learn from my mistakes and share your own suggestions, recipes and foibles by commenting as we go.

The first vegetable-victim? (Well, I think it is actually a fruit – but that isn’t alliterated.) AVOCADO!

According to WebMD: “Avocados are a good source of fiber, potassium, and vitamins C,K, folate, and B6. Half an avocado has 160 calories, 15 grams of heart-healthy unsaturated fat, and only 2 grams saturated fat. One globe contains more than one-third daily value of vitamin C, and more than half the day’s requirements of vitamin K.”

Yes, I am 23-years-old and have never had an avocado. I give you full permission to shake your head in shame at me.

I grabbed two avocados at the grocery store on our regularly scheduled bi-monthly grocery trip and tossed it in the fridge…where it sat for several days glaring at me, because I was too scared to try it. Finally I gave in, pulled them out and placed them on the cutting board. Not knowing exactly what to do with them, I just took a knife to them. 

I quickly learned how easy the skin comes off, how strange the texture of an avocado is and that it was probably a good idea to look up how to cut an avocado correctly before proceeding. (See: How To Cut an Avocado). I followed the avocado cutting directions and wound up with some strange-looking green avocado slices. Now I had to decide what to do with them. 

Since it was lunch time and I was already hungry, I followed some Pinterest suggestions, and made an avocado grilled cheese on whole wheat bread with one havarti cheese slice and one muenster cheese slice The verdict: If you have ever touched a slice of avocado, you already know that the texture is slightly mushy. 

Though texture is usually a big deal-breaker for me when it comes to food, the texture didn’t bother me at all. What surprised me about the avocado was how little taste it had. It isn’t nearly as scary as it looks! In fact, it was pretty delicious. Next time, I think I will add something else to the sandwich so it has a bit more punch. This recipe use peperoni and mozzarella cheese and this recipe uses goat cheese and spinach. You can check out even more avocado recipes by clicking here.


What do you think? Do you like avocados, hate them or are you still too scared to try them? What are your favorite avocado recipes? And what fruit or vegetable do you think I should try next?

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