Ah, avocados, my favorite fruit. I won’t bore you with any of my guacamole recipes this issue as I have written a couple in the past. However, I have included Will’s Hard Salad, which has an easy cheater’s recipe for the vinaigrette. The avocado is free of both sodium (salt) and cholesterol. Best of all, the fat in avocados is the monounsaturated kind, which is less harmful. It is also a good source of potassium. This mineral helps the body with muscle contractions and in maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance in our cells. Yes, it is quite important. Avocados also have 60 per cent more potassium that do bananas. Did I mention that avocados are reputed to be an aphrodisiac? This hasn’t been confirmed by modern day science, but I think they do the trick! Other avocado health benefits include being an antioxidant, source of vitamin E, and benefits for the heart, eyes and prostate.
Remember that the recipes are not written in stone. Feel free to add or change ingredients and spices to your taste.
Will’s Hard Salad
Very good and a healthy meal all on its own for lunch. You can substitute English or regular cucumber but I prefer the pickle because of the smaller seeds. The raw zucchini really adds to this salad in terms of taste. It is sort of like a cucumber but sweeter. The options section has other things you can add.
1 celery stick sliced thinly
1 large avocado cut into chunks
2 pickle cucumbers peeled and sliced 1/4 inch pieces
1 small zucchini sliced into 1/4 inch pieces. Leave skin on.
1 red pepper 1 yellow or orange Options:5-6 baby carrots sliced thin
Sliced almonds or pine nuts (both work but not at the same time)1-3 radishes cut into 1/4 inch chunks Sugar snap pea pods (de-vein and cut in half)
Cheaters Salad Dressing
This is a tried and true (and fast) method of making a salad dressing. Balsamic Vinaigrette (something like President’s Choice or Kraft) Creamy Dijon Mustard (the mayo variety)
Just blend portions of the two together until you get the taste you want. Start with about 1/3 mustard to 2/3 vinaigrette.
Mix all ingredients together including dressing and eat. Will keep for a couple of days if you make two much.
Can’t Believe it’s Chicken
This is my easiest recipe for chicken and it is a crowd pleaser wherever I go. Cooks rave about it and women invite me over to cook this dish for them. I’m sitting here drooling as I think about it. Seriously, if you only try one recipe this year make it this one.
1 piece of ginger (thumb size)2 oranges
2 chicken breasts sliced into 1/8 to 1/4 inch pieces Sesame oil
Use just enough sesame oil to cover bottom of frying pan.
Grate 1/2 of ginger onto the chicken. Finely chop remainder and add half of that to the oil.
Using a grater take one orange and scrape 1/4 of skin into oil. Peel the two oranges.
Put burner on high (just below max) toss in chicken.
As it is cooking take peeled orange and cut up into chunks allowing juice to go into frying pan.
As it cooks taste and add remaining ginger to taste.
Serve with rice and a steamed vegetable (broccoli, for instance).
Avocado and Canadian Bacon Pizza
So healthy you can’t believe it’s actually this tasty. It’s easy and fast, and Canadian bacon is low fat, especially compared to regular bacon. Get the low sodium or no-salt version if you can. I’ve occasionally added broccoli, which changes the taste a bit but it’s nice to place with your food sometimes.
1 unbaked pizza dough shell, 12 inches in diameter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
3 ounces Canadian bacon, cut in 1/4-inch dice
1 large avocado, cut into chunks
8 ounces tomato, thinly slicedsalt or salt substitute, as needed
3 ounces Monterey Jack or old Cheddar cheese, shredded
Brush dough with olive oil; sprinkle with basil. Overlap tomato slices, scatter bacon and avocado over tomato. Lightly sprinkle with salt or substitute. Sprinkle cheese over pizza.
Bake at 500 degrees F until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cut into 8 wedges.
