Any avocado lovers around? Please hands up! 🤚
Avocados are magic and they are one of my fav fruits in this world! Avocados are rich in good fats, and fiber and can be used in numerous preparations. In vegan cuisine, it is essential because it gives creaminess and consistency to numerous dishes.
Here in Brazil, we eat avocados both sweet and salty! Yes, unlike many countries in the world, here we mix avocado with sugar, condensed milk, and even with chocolate to make vitamins, ice cream, and even mousse. Incredible, isn't it? I've lived in this world and found out that besides Brazil, only in Vietnam do they eat avocados as sweet... Do you know any other crazy people in this world that eat avocado in a sweet way?
Another curiosity is that here in Brazil our avocados are huge! Yes, they are very big indeed! So, whenever I buy avocados in the market I end up using a single fruit to make different recipes.
In today's post, I wanted to bring you two delicious salads that I make with avocado and I simply love them. The first is a vegan version of the Caprese salad and the second is a combination that takes avocado with chickpeas and is simply wonderful!
Let's go to the recipes.
Vegan Caprese salad
*Delicate but also strong in flavor.This salad is amazing!
The Caprese salad is a classic of Italian gastronomy. It is made with tomato, buffalo mozzarella, and basil pesto. In the vegan version, of course, we'll leave out the cheese and add our king, the avocado!
Ingredients
6 pear tomatoes or 2 regular tomatoes
½ avocado
1 sprig of basil
1 bunch courgette
1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup of pumpkin seed
1 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
How to prepare
To prepare this recipe, let's start with the pesto sauce.
The mix of parsley and basil make this pesto more fresh and light
Traditionally, a good pesto sauce is made with basil, parmesan, olive oil, and pinhole. In this version, however, I used pumpkin seed and along with the basil, I added parsley to make it a little lighter since the avocado itself is quite heavy.
In a blender start by grinding the pumpkin seeds.
Then add a clove of garlic and gradually add the basil and the parsley.
Slowly add the olive oil to help the mixture. When everything has turned into a paste, put it aside.
Now that the pesto is ready, simply cut the tomatoes and avocado into proportional slices.
This tomatoes were super fresh and sweet
Slice the avo!
Place one on top of the other, add a spoonful of pesto on each one, and MAMMA MIA! A perfect Caprese salad!
Tomato, chickpea, and avocado salad
Another great salad using avocado
This salad is delicious, refreshing, and nutritious. Ideal for hot summer days. And of course, super easy to make!
Ingredients
1 cup of cooked chickpeas
6 pear tomatoes
½ avocado
parsley
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
How to prepare
This salad is very easy to make. You can cook the chickpeas, but you can also use canned chickpeas, which is much more practical. Once cooked, drain the chickpeas.
Next, chop the tomatoes and avocado into small pieces.
First, mix the chickpeas with the tomatoes, and add the lemon juice, chopped parsley, salt, and pepper. Check if the seasoning is to your liking and if it is, add the avocados and now mix gently.
Garnish with a few slices of lemon and this incredible salad is ready.
Is anyone else a fan of avocados? Sweet or salty? I hope you enjoy these recipes!
And if you read me here at Hive, tell me in the comments if there's anything I can improve in the recipes. I often cook intuitively and I'm always in doubt if I'm explaining it well. I'm also improving on the photos, but as with some recipes I do at night, I realize that the light needs improvement, what do you think?
See you on the next recipe!