The Green Food of the Gods

The avocado. The green food of the Gods.

Once relegated to guacamole and an occasional “California” style chicken breast topping, avocados have come into their own. Whether they are the star of the show or play a bit part, avocados are popping up in many interesting places. A few interesting things about avocados:

• Avocados are a fruit, not a vegetable
• Americans are eating 3-4 times as many avocados than just 20 years ago.
• Last year there was a scare about avocado prices, and while they spiked up 25% during the summer, they were back to normal prices by the end of the year.
• About 50 million pounds of avocados are eaten during Super Bowl Sunday. That is enough to cover a football field 12 feet deep.
• Avocados are members of the Laurel family which also includes the bay laurel and cinnamon tree.

More avocado facts can be found here.

Grilled Avocados Filled with Blistered Tomato Salsa

I’d grilled a lot of things in my life, but this was a first for me.

A handful of ingredients.

The avocados are prepped for the grill.

I put them on with a few other things for dinner.

The tomatoes are grilled as well.

Off the grill.

The veggies.

A tasty side.

Grilled Avocados Filled with Blistered Tomato Salsa

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus more for the tomatoes
1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lime juice
3 avocados
Fine sea salt
Coarsely-ground black pepper
18 grape tomatoes
2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons coarsely-chopped cilantro leaves
½ cup roasted corn
½ cup black beans
¼ cup diced red onion
Sour cream or mozzarella pearls

Directions:

Prepare the grill for direct grilling over a medium-hot fire.

Crush the garlic clove into a medium bowl. Add the oil and lime juice and whisk together. Halve and pit the avocados. Brush some of the oil mixture onto each half without letting any puddle in the hole where the pit was (we don’t want it dripping into the grill and causing flare-ups). Reserve the remaining liquid. Season the avocados liberally with salt and pepper.

Skewer the grape tomatoes and drizzle them with olive oil. Season with salt.

Place the avocados on the grill cut-side-down. Add the tomatoes alongside. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes, turning the tomatoes once. The avocados should be nicely marked and the skin on the tomatoes should be blistered. Remove everything from the grill.

Cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters. Add them to the liquid in the bowl. Fold in the chiles and cilantro to complete the blistered tomato salsa.

Spoon some of the salsa mixture into each avocado half and finish with a little salt. Garnish with dollops of sour cream. Serve warm.

Source: http://kalamazoogourmet.com/lifestyle/recipes/grilled-avocadoes-filled-with-blistered-tomato-salsa/