Healthy Avocado Spread

Avocado - the fruit of love. It is believed it represent fertility as the root word came from an old Spanish word referring to "testicle". Avocado is a pear shaped fruit originated from Mexico but cultivated worldwide for the nutritional value the fruits give. Avocado is the most "oily" fruits having the highest concentration of monounsaturated fat - a perfect replacement for vegan that does not take fish or meat.
One palm-sized "hold-able" avocado weigh about 100gram gives about 15grams fat of which almost 10grams are monounsaturated, 2grams polyunsaturated and the balance are plant fats. it has 2grams of protein and about 9grams of carbs, of which less than 1gram are sugar. It has 7grams of fiber. With nutritional values such as these, avocado is a choice of many when looking at introducing good fat into their diet and at the same time, lowering the bad cholesterol.
My experience with avocado are mostly blended into a drink or made into cakes. I always had the impression that the sweetness that these beverages and cakes were from avocado. I was wrong. With less than 1gram of sugar per serving, avocado is not sweet but subtle tasting. It is smooth and buttery, almost creamy when eaten and leaves a pleasant after taste in the mouth that is distinctively avocado  -or it reminds you of a certain brand of shampoo or facial cleanser using avocado as one of the ingredient.
Choosing avocado is tricky if you have no experience in eating the fruits. Most people will go for the bright green fruits, thinking that it will be the best. many will then leave it in the fridge, hoping that it will ripen. Many will then throw it away, thinking that the fruits is not edible - and hard.
I learnt about avocado from Wifey, but she has not been having it for some time. Opportunity came when i was buying fruits in the wet market and i saw that 3 fruits were going for RM10. That is about the average price to pay in the supermarket too. I recalled wifey telling me that she will take the avocado and cut them to be eaten with bread. And then, an idea struck me. Why not i make a spread, from avocado?
Here is how.
Step 1 : Get one ripe avocado and halve it. To know if the avocado is ripe, look for dark brownish color with little or no hint of green. Gentle press with your thumb and if the surface is spongy to the touch, it is ripe. If it is too soft, it has over-ripen and do not buy.

Green in the foreground is not ripe. Darker brown on the right is going to be ripe. The one i cut, is ripe.

If you bought green avocado, don't worry, leave them out for about two days and they will start ripening. This is also a good tip if you plan to have avocado twice or thrice a week and you can buy the fruits according to the level of ripeness and ration from there.

Halving the fruit is simple and you can use a sharp kitchen knife or you can opt to use the CRKT M21-12G or CRKT Hissatsu Folder. Once you half it, you will expose the fruits to air and they will slowly turn brown like an apple. The trick, which i found out later, was to sprinkle some lemon juice to stop the oxidization. Lemon juice will also add some zing into the spread you are about to make.

Step 2 : Remove the seed by using a spoon to scoop it out and then use the same spoon to scoop all the flesh out into a small container. 

Buttery goodness. Slippery but not wet.

An avocado is already rich with GOOD fat, lets make them better by adding in...

Step 3: Olive oil. Feel free to add in more. Olive oil is something you can't have enough. It is anti-inflammatory and helps to lower your cholesterol too, apart from giving more mono and poly unsaturated fat into your diet. I filled up 1/4 of the container with olive oil, or roughly about 3 spoonful to an avocado.

Just don't use the oil for frying. Eat/drink them raw!

With the olive oil and avocado in the container, proceed to Step 4 : I love balsamic vinegar. Adding in a spoonful (or less, depending on your tolerance for this herby vinegar) adds flavour and taste to the subtle avocado taste.

Yummeh!

 Step 5: involves you taking the spoon or fork and mashing it all up into a smooth mixture. You can alternatively use a food processor but much will be lost in the processor if you do that. Keep mixing and the fruit will quite readily get mushy in the process.

Don't be fooled by the icky texture. It's Fatty Goodness!

This spread will be more than sufficient to layer up 6 slices of bread. To prevent it from overflowing, i suggest that they are spread on a single slide and folded into half. My choice of bread is not Massimo whole wheat. No more white of refined flour bread for me.

This spread was sufficient for a breakfast for two. I suggest you try this too. Stay tuned for more healthy food idea from Tristupe.com!