in pursuit of wild things

Up until a week ago all I knew about avocados was they were used to make guacamole. Just so you know…avocados are not a staple of Appalachian cuisine. Ha! There’s two words you seldom see together! Serve up a mess of slow cooked pintos and ham hocks with fresh green onions, a slab of cornbread smothered in butter and mustard greens on the side…now that’s what I call supper. Sadly, my family does not agree…they all have some mysterious bean aversion. Give me an avocado…and I have no idea. I didn’t know anything about them or how to chow down on the little green vegetable..or fruit…whatever.

A while ago Ellie at New Creations Ministries asked if we liked avocados on her chemical personality test. I could not finish the quiz because I had no clue if these were yummy or yucky. So the kids and I set off on an adventure to discover avocados. I am always trying (and failing) to get them to try new foods…especially green foods…so this was my opportunity to set a good example.

We discovered that avocados (Persea americana) are considered a fruit not a vegetable and are originally from Puebla, Mexico. They are now grown in tropical climates worldwide. Like the banana the avocado matures on the tree but ripens off the tree. These are called climacteric fruits. How’s that for a vocabulary lesson?! The avocado is ready to eat when it gives to a little squeeze. It it feels too mushy then it is over ripe. I bought a firm one and just waited until it felt a little soft…about four days.

Now, how to eat the little green fruit? Well there are all sorts of ways and recipes on the internet but I did not find anything all that appealing. I do plan to try some on a taco one of these days. For the most part I prefer simple and quick recipes. Ellie suggested that I try some with lemon juice and I liked it but only Littlest was willing to try the green cube. He ate it but did not ask for another piece. Sparkles said it looked and felt like green butter but she wouldn’t taste it. I needed to come up with a way to serve it that my children would at least try. Turns out I was making egg salad sandwiches for lunch that day. So I mashed up some of the avocado and added it to my recipe. The avocado was so creamy that I only needed a couple of tablespoons of sour cream  to get the right consistency. That was the best and healthiest egg salad sandwich ever..that I’ve made anyway. Turns out my idea to add avocados to egg salad wasn’t so original…I found several on Pinterest. Here is my version:

6 boiled eggs-chopped
1 stalk celery-chopped
1 avocado-mashed
dill pickle-chopped or use relish
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne…my daughter does not like anything spicy so I just put hot sauce on mine
2 tbsp sour cream  or plain yogurt…I had to give of mayo after losing my gall bladder
Mix all the above together and serve on toasted (home-made if you got it) bread. Yummy! Even the kids thought the green egg salad was good.

Now I just have to figure out how to incorporate avocados into my version of Appalachian cuisine. Just so you know…avocados turn brown after a while. So eat up all of the egg salad right away!

Linking up with Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday