avocado - the fruit, not the colour

Colour? I hear you saying it.
Who doesn't remember those oh-so-stylish avocado kitchens?

But this is about the fruit.

Many years ago, before avocados were the popular everyday item they are today, they were seen as "health food".  Back in the days when health food was something only the fanatics or hippies ate.
I read and was told they're good for you. Low calorie or some such.
You should eat them. They're good for you.
Try one, they're good for you.

I remember once a friend gave me a small chunk from the one she was eating.
I tried to eat it, which meant I put it in my mouth and immediately wished I hadn't.
It felt wrong, tasted awful. I spat it out and apologised to my friend.
Vowed to never try that again.

Now, we all know I've got a very sweet tooth.
I recall a steady childhood diet of heavily sugared cornflakes for breakfast,  plum jam sandwiches for lunch, baked beans on toast for dinner. I'm sure there were other foods, but that's what I remember most.

I've noticed though, that in recent years, beginning perhaps 15 years ago, I'm developing a taste for more savoury things. I'm eating salads more. Spicy things more. The main focus of my meals is no longer dessert.

Maybe it was time to try avocado again?
I thought about it for weeks.
Then I bought one.

It sat in my fridge for three days, I just couldn't bring myself to even cut into it, let alone eat some.
Until tonight.
I'd had dinner hours ago and wanted a hot milo before bed.
As I got the milk out of the fridge, I also took out the avocado. I made the milo first, in case I needed something quickly to get the taste out of my mouth.

Then I cut into this fruit. Not the way most people do, I just sliced off the tip.  I cut a very thin slice and nibbled at it. A teeny, tiny nibble. Held it in my mouth for a bit, and it wasn't so bad. I finished the thin slice by tiny nibbles and wondered how I could use up the rest of this alligator pear.

I decided that mixing it in with my usual salad ingredients was probably the best way.
So tomorrow, Friday, (well, that'll be today, because I'm scheduling this for the morning),  I'll buy some fresh salad leaves, and have it for dinner. Probably not the whole thing, just a bit of it. Mixed with greens, tomato, shaved parmesan.....

The latest buzz in health foods is beetroot.
I don't like beetroot......

Comments

  1. Methinks it is all about how you serve the avocado in regards to its taste. Mashed up with a fork with a little salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice it is lovely in a sandwich with chopped chicken tossed in a little mayo. It is lovely mashed with nothing added atop a plate of chili con carne alongside a dollop of sour cream or same for nachos or a jacket potato.

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  2. I still hate avocado. I'm not a huge fan of beetroot either, except in the odd salad sandwich, but I do love dipping slices of tasty cheese in beetroot juice and eating that.

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  3. I don't like avocado...or beetroot... why does stuff that is good for you taste so awful? I found some avocado in my salad at Williams the other day. Needless to say, it all got scraped to the side of the plate and left. Some things do not improve with age.

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  4. Oh I LOVE avocado -- and Kimmie is right, mashed with S&P and a little lemon juice = awesomeness.

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  5. Avocado is wonderful. But if you are not brought up on it, I can understand it could take some getting used to. But beetroot? How can someone over fifty and brought up in Australia not like tinned beetroot.

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  6. I think Kimmie has the right idea!

    It's great in salads but you might like it more on a sandwich is you are not used to it. I never had one at all until I was an adult. Now it make my day when I cut into a perfect coloured one.

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  7. Avocado yuk!, beetroot yummmmy :-).

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  8. Both of them yummy. And Kimmy and Toni are right - lemon juice and pepper and avocado sandwich on good bread. Sourdough for preference.
    It is brussel sprouts I have issues with. My mama told me I couldn't be a vegetarian if I didn't like them, but I am managing just fine.

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  9. Kimmie; mashed with a little salt and pepper sounds like something I'd try.

    no-one; you've always had odd tastes.

    Delores; it's sad how everything good for you is awful. Lentils and chickpeas for instance. Urk. I don't mind red lentils in a soup, but can't stand the brown ones.

    Toni; i'm going to give that a try.

    Andrew; it isn't the beetroot itself so much as the soggy pink bread or roll that I bit into a few times before giving up altogether. I remember one time asking at the shop for a salad roll without beetroot and all they did was take the slice off and hand me the pink-soggy-edged roll, which I refused to buy.

    Sarah; I'm going to try the salad first, I think the dressing will help things there, then a sandwich the next time. Do you think it would go with a slice of rare roast beef? On the sandwich.

    Windsmoke; avocado.....maybe, beetroot, not so bad in itself, but soggy pink sandwich? YUK!!

    EC; anything else on the bread besides the avocado? I don't think I could take it on its own.
    I love brussels sprouts.

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  10. River, how can you eat a hamburger without sliced beetroot and pineapple?
    I don't mind avocado but only chopped in a salad with feta cheese and plenty of lemon juice.

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  11. JahTeh; I eat my hamburgers with tomato and bacon and sauce, a mixture of tomato sauce and bbq sauce. Pineapple goes on a pizza.

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  12. Hi River,

    I love avocado - try on a sandwich with smoked salmon - divine!!!

    :0)

    Cheers

    PM

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  13. 'Alligator Pear' - fantastic description!

    Try it on toast with slices of tomato and loads of salt and pepper. Simple but delicious.

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  14. Oh, man! If you're not going to eat, just push it my way. I LOVE avocado!

    Beetroot? Is that the same as "beet"? I didn't like them as a child, but now? Oooh -- with goat cheese and arugula and a splash of basalmic vinegar, maybe a coupla sunflower seeds sprinkled on the top? Good eats, baby!

    Pearl

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  15. I love avocado, but I live in California, where they grow. We knew a guy from Brasil who would cut them in half, take out the seed, and then fill the hole with sugar and eat the avocado around the sugar.

    I like guacamole, mashed avocado with tomato, garlic, chile, cumin and a bit of lemon.

    I hate beets, but ate beetroot when I as in Australia and was pleasantly surprised.

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  16. Greek joints sold a hamburger with the lot. In my teens I lived on them. You got a fair dinkum bun (not a sponge-rubber thing) meat, an egg, bacon, onion, tomato, lettuce, sliced BEETROOT. Anyone who doesn't like beetroot will never be an Australian.

    Okay?

    Don't incite my patriotism.

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  17. Winos and beetroot
    Kelpies and beetroot
    Eviction and beetroot
    Anzac Day and beetroot
    The dole and beetroot
    Two-up and beetroot
    Hill's Hoist and beetroot
    Pissed again and beetroot
    AFL and beetroot
    Old molls and beetroot
    Done-me-dough and beetroot
    Shanks pony and beetroot
    Snowdropping and beetroot
    Vagged again and beetroot
    Pawn shop and beetroot

    Vinegar and Australia.

    -Rochester.

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  18. Plasman; smoked salmon is another thing I'm not fond of, I prefer tuna. I'll give it a try though. It might go well on rye bread.

    Kath; surely you remember the alligator pear name? I've heard it since I was a teenager.

    Pearl; I'm pretty sure they're the same thing. Google beetroot and find out.


    Bev; welcome to drifting. sugar doesn't sound like the right thing to add, but then again, I knew a girl who would add salt to her fruits, so it's a matter of personal taste really.

    R.H. I remember those "proper" hamburgers. They were great food! And the beetroot was properly drained so the bun didn't get all soggy. The sogginess is what turned me away from beetroot. I don't mind the taste. I just haven't bought or eaten it for probably 40 years.

    Lord Rochester; very clever.

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  19. As a child in Fiji, I recall my mum making avocado icecream!! I don't recall throwing up, so it MUST have been good ... that's one way to combine the sweet & savoury!

    Just halve it, make a salsa from tomato, onion and fetta with a balsamic vinaigrette, seasoned well with salt & pepper, then spoon into the hole where the stone was! Seasoning is the key!!

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  20. Red Nomad; seasoning is definitely the key. I have several options to try now.

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  21. Oh and regarding beetroot, home grown pickled beetroot tastes so much better than the tinned stuff!

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