Avocado-- The Game Changer

Let's start off with a round-of-applause for Jessica.  Though dinner was later than I'd hoped for (which is usually 4:30pm for the old folks special), it was well worth the wait.  Plus, she fed me cherry tomatoes, walnuts, and SANGRIA in the meantime. (What's to complain about?) We both agreed that though the zucchini's were packed with protein, it was still missing a main food dish because the meal was very light.  We also agreed to some of the suggestions for improvement in the comments section: Use chickpeas instead of Cannellini Beans, Only 2 tbsp of oil needed.  We topped them with extra parm cheese instead of oil.  I think we won.  Sorry, no picture... Too much sangria.

But let's not dwell on that.  Yesterday was another fantastic dinner.  This week, I was a little over ambitious at my trip to Trader Joe's. I picked up 4 ripe avocados-- my first mistake.  I'm not really sure why I thought I'd be home to cook 5 fantastic dinners this week (all requiring avocados).  Clearly, I was delusional. (Is that an oxymoron?) But I did. I also decided this week that I needed to up my iron & protein game.  Since I'm not going to stuff my face with red meat, I chose avocados as my building block. 

Did you know that you could put avocado on everything?  I find the best way to do that is to mash it up with a little freshly squeezed lime juice (or lemon, your preference), lots of salt, and a dash (or several dashes) of cayenne pepper.  Waahlaah.  An avocado spread, if you will.

So I first spread this business on some fresh broccoli florets for breakfast one morning (I eat weird breakfasts).  I sliced some avocado to add to my Mexican fiesta salad for lunch, too. And finally, the dinner I had been waiting for: 

Grilled Portobello Onion Pepper Panini Guac Awesomeness.. unofficially named.

Here's what you see:

• White Onions
• Red Pepper
• Portobella Mushrooms
• Tomato Slices
• Udi's Gluten Free Bread
• Avocado Spread (4 avocados, 1 lime squeezed, salt & cayenne pepper)

In my lovely grilling pan (which causes an indoor forest fire every time I use it) grilled the peppers, then onions, then mushrooms.  I brushed each with a tad bit of olive oil before grilling and salted each one (of course).  Then I sprayed the pan with my olive oil cooking spray and grilled both sides of my bread.  I spread the "guac" onto one side of my bread and stacked all the ingredients up for my final masterpiece. 

(If you were wondering, my 4th avocado was Taryn's dinner Saturday night.. she prefers the lemon spread option.)

Bottom line: Avocados make the world go round.  Don't tell me you haven't looked at a restaurant menu and changed your mind to something with avocado in the ingredients list.