Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Texas Vegetarian on Bloglovin!

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And I'll leave you with this...


A black bean burger, sweet potato fries, a local stout...and our charmingly rustic backyard.


Monday, August 25, 2014

Grocery List Update

What have we spent so far? These estimates are on the high end, so your total could be a bit lower.

Avocado - $2
Eggs - $5
Flour - $4
Dry beans - $1.16

A grand total of $12.16, but far from a full shopping list.

Next time: coconut oil! (with a bonus recipe for coconut oil deodorant!)





Avocado Love

In a previous post, I mentioned the ubiquitous pot of pinto beans. My coworker speaks lovingly of her mother's frijoles. I could eat them plain, wrapped in a tortilla, or over rice. However, there is one thing that will elevate those humble pinto beans...

Avocado.


When I lived in New York City, I had two great food complaints: no proper tortillas and no ripe avocados. The lack of tortillas forced me to learn how to make flour tortillas, so that actually made me stronger through strife. But there was nothing to be done about small, hard avocados that would never ripen.

Cost of an avocado:
There are many regional and seasonal variables, but to keep it simple, I'll say that I will spend $1-$3 per avocado. They are often on sale, because that's better than the store throwing it all out. However, beware of the overripe avocado on sale. Not worth it.

Buying an avocado:
Choose carefully. An overripe avocado is pretty vile, and tastes like mushy dirt. An under ripe avocado just isn't usable, and you'll find yourself trying to mush it with sour cream just to have some passable guacamole.
Avocados should be firm, but give to pressure. Gently feel the whole avocado, so you don't lose half to some black spot.

My favorite uses for avocado:

1. Guacamole. Skip the extra stuff. A good avocado needs only the juice from half a lime, and some salt and pepper. Mash it all together, and serve it with tortilla chips, pita chips, gluten-free rice chips...

2. Dice and add to salads, soups, tacos...anything.

3. Avocados and eggs are an amazing combination. Tonight I sliced avocado and tomatoes on a piece of homemade wheat bread (see previous post), and put a fried egg on top. So satisfying, economical, and healthy.

4. While I don't do this often because I don't want to muddle a good avocado with other ingredients, avocado adds beautiful creaminess to a smoothie, http://www.macted.ro/sunday-smoothie-avocado-banana/, or creates an interesting twist on green gazpacho, http://www.chow.com/recipes/29205-raw-vegan-avocado-gazpacho.

5. Finally, something I discovered at an Austin City Limits Festival years ago, at the Mighty Cone food truck (http://www.mightycone.com/). Fried avocado. Delicious for obvious fried, creaminess reasons. Chuy's Tex Mex also occasionally has a fried avocado dish on the menu. http://www.kimshealthyeats.com/crispy-baked-avocado-fries/

Don't use for baking brownies...even though it's a good fat substitute. That's a dumb waste of a good avocado, in my professional opinion. Unless you have a flourishing avocado tree in your backyard, and then you should probably just invite me over.