Avocado

The avocado may be my favorite wintertime fruit. It's creamy texture and fatty nutritional profile make it a perfect snack after a tough workout. It can be mixed with salsa or sour cream; tossed on chicken or eggs, and makes the perfect addition to any type of meat hearty salad.

100g of avocado yields a solid 14g of fat (2 SatFA, 10 MUFA, and 2 PUFA), 9g of CHO, and 2g PRO and provides 160 calories.

According to Jeffery Steingarten in The Man Who Ate Everything the avocado ripens only after you pick it. Apparently the avocado tree produces a chemical that inhibits ripening.  Now that my dreams of wandering around Peru in search of a perfect and lusciously ripe avocado enjoyed seconds after picking are shattered I can enjoy eating avocados all winter long without thought of how much better they could be. In fact, the 10 for $10.00 deal on avocados at my local grocery store now seems that much more fantastic.

Steingarten recommends the best way to store an avocado is refrigeration.....but only after first ripening the fruit at room temperature.  The flesh should feel firm, with a slight give to the pressure of a thumb. Then, and only then, is the avocado ready to be diced, mashed and mixed into a creamy guacamole.

 Beware of the overripe avocado or the avocado that has been prodded with too many thumbs, testing for ripeness. Its flesh will be bruised, browned and appear unappealing. Heating an avocado is not recommended. Want it on your pizza? Wait until the cheese is cool enough to slice with out falling off.....you know what I mean, and then place the avocado slices on top.