The avocado is one of the foods that should be on the weekly shopping list of every midlife woman, every week of the year.
Packed with our relaxation mineral magnesium and healthy fibre for our daily detox (poop); full of mono saturated, heart-healthy fats and vitamin E to support supple skin and your cardiovascular system, the avocado is hugely protective of our all-round, midlife health. It is a super food sister!
An avocado is quick to prepare and can be thrown on top of a salad, sliced onto toast or added to an an egg to provide each plate with that satiating healthy fat that helps balance blood sugar levels, keeps you satiated and gives you energy for days.
Perhaps the most health protective aspect of the avocado is its anti-inflammatory properties. Research shows that the avocado will scour free radicals and antioxidants which damage health on a cellular level so efficiently that eating a meal containing avocado will reduce the inflammatory response that may be induced by other foods that you put on your plate.
Read that again! An avocado when added to your plate is protecting your health from other foods that are on that plate as it is such a powerful antioxidant. This is the superhero of fruits people! Avocados should come with capes!
One of my favourite ways to enjoy avocado is to make Guacamole so that I can transport myself, by the mouthful, to one of my many favourite places in Mexico. Eating food should be a sensory pleasure ladies and Guacamole always gives me all of the feels as memories come flooding back.
I may have mentioned on this site previously, but I am a very lazy cook. One of the messy jobs I cannot bear is peeling or dicing a ripe tomato…I just end up with a smear of skin, seeds and juice on my chopping board. My solution is to quarter ripe cherry tomatoes and make my Guac chunky.
Hello, my name is Louise and I like my guacamole like I like a new born babies thighs - chunky.
More important for me is to add plenty of salt and lime, as I love my Mexican food to taste like a Margherita (cue more of those memories!) and I always add a quarter teaspoon of cumin to add a delicious depth of flavour.
I am also a cilantro heavy chef but, if you are one of those people that does not do cilantro because you only taste soap, just leave it out.
This is a recipe that is packed with nutrition, helps to reduce inflammation, will help you to maintain your energy all day and is as versatile as any dish I know.
Use as a snack with tortilla chips, serve on toast for breakfast, add and egg for a healthy lunch or top with smoked salmon, tuna or baby shrimp to create a more substantial meal.
Embrace the avocado lady (but not too hard cos bruising!), get them into your fruit bowl weekly and when they infuriatingly all go ripe together, get your guac on!
Anti-Inflammatory Guacamole
2 large handfuls of ripe cherry tomatoes quartered
2 large ripe avocados
11/2 limes juiced or to taste
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1 large handful cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
Quarter the cherry tomatoes and place in a large bowl.
Add the salt and cumin, ripe avocado halves, lime juice and chopped cilantro.
Using a fork, the end of a rolling pin or a cute masher like my little chicken guy, gently mash the ingredients together to combine all the flavours.
Store in the refrigerator in a sealed glass container.
P.S. If you have 10 minutes to make guacamole you might as well go the whole hog and spend 10 minutes more making these quercitin rich Pretty Pink Onions to eat on the side and double your anti-inflammatory super powers.