The avocado sits firmly at the top of my favorite foods list. A slice spread onto whole wheat toast, sprinkled with a little salt and pepper – nothing tastes better to me.
It is believed that the earliest avocados appeared in Central Mexico between 7000 and 5000 BC. Archaeologists found avocado seeds buried alongside Incan Mummies from 750 BC, but it wasn’t until 1871 that the fruit was successfully introduced to the United States. Currently a full 90% of commercially grown avocados are grown in California on farms located from the Mexican border up to San Luis Obispo. The most popular variety, the Haas, was developed by Rudolph Haas in 1935, in the backyard of a La Habra Heights, California home.
Avocados contain 20 different vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients and are a good source of vitamin E, vitamin C, folate, fiber, iron, potassium. An ounce serving of avocado contains only 50 calories, 3.5 grams of unsaturated fat, and 2 grams saturated fat. Avocados are cancer fighters with 19 micrograms of beta-carotene and 81 micrograms of lutein.
A ripe avocado has a smooth buttery texture. The easiest way to select a ripe fruit is to hold it in your hand and squeeze with gentle pressure. A good one will have some give, but no overly soft or mushy spots. If you are unable to find a ripe fruit, then take it home and put it into a paper bag with a banana. Leave the bag on your counter for a couple of days and the gases from the banana will help your avocado ripen faster.
Avocados are green in more ways than one; the roots of the trees help to prevent soil erosion, California orchards remove between 25-88 lbs of pollutants from the environment per year, while the leaves of the avocado trees help to cool the surrounding air, and a single tree produces 260 pounds of oxygen.
Some fun avocado facts from The California Avocado Commision:
*Avocados are a fruit, not a vegetable, belonging to the genus Persea in the Lauraceae family.
*Avocados are sodium- and cholesterol-free and have only five grams of fat per serving, most of it the monounsaturated kind.
*Brazilians add avocados to ice cream and Filipinos puree avocados with sugar and milk for a dessert drink.
*A single California avocado tree can produce about 500 avocados (or 200 pounds of fruit) a year although usually average about 60 pounds from 150 fruit.
*There are seven varieties of avocados grown commercially in California, but the Hass is the most popular, accounting for approximately 95% of the total crop volume.
*California avocados grow year-round.
Garden Variety Guacamole
2 ripe avocados
2 Tbs finely minced purple onion
2 cloves garlic minced extra fine
1/2 cup diced ripe tomato
1/4 cup sliced cilantro
1/2 lime
Cut the avocados and half, remove the seeds, then scoop out with a spoon. Mash with a fork until smooth. Sprinkle with lime juice, then stir in onions, garlic, tomato, and cilantro, stir gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
If you are not serving immediately, cover with plastic and refrigerate.
