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Summer is here! That means it’s time to enjoy delicious summer dishes and get creative with new recipes.
One of my favorite summertime foods is avocados - a versatile fruit that adds a pop of color to any dish. It can be a bit tricky to purchase and eat them at the ideal time, so here are a few tips for choosing and preserving your avocados.
Storing 2 the Right Avocado (1)
First, determine how soon you want to eat the avocado, you want it to be ripe when you eat it. If you want to eat the avocado within 24 hours of purchase, choose one that is slightly soft (but not mushy) when you give it a squeeze in the palm of your hand.
If it will be a few days, choose an avocado that is firmer. That way, it will be ripe by the time you are ready to eat it.
Storing (2)
If the avocado is ripe, store it loose in the refrigerator, away from other produce.
If the avocado is not quite ripe, leave on the counter until it is ripe.
If you want to accelerate the ripening process, place in a closed paper bag (ideally with an apple or banana to make it ripen even faster).
If you cut the avocado and only use part of it, close the remaining parts back up around the pit or sprinkle with lemon/lime juice and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator to prevent browning.
For longer storage, you can mash up your avocado with a little lemon juice and freeze it.
Make an Avocado Smoothie (3)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup cubed frozen pineapple (or any other fruit that you have in your kitchen!)
2 cups packed fresh spinach, or 1 cup frozen spinach
1 ripe avocado
1 frozen banana
3/4 cup milk of your choice (dairy or plant-based)
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus 1/2 teaspoon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple syrup
pinch of sea salt
8 ice cubes
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until the texture is right for you.
Feel free to add more fruit, milk, veggies, ice, or other ingredients as you wish! Have fun with it. As a bonus, making this smoothie is a great way to use up the spinach and fruits in your kitchen that are ripening fast and need to be consumed before it’s too late! Remember, Wasted Food Stops With Us!
(How to Tell if an Avocado is Ripe - How to Pick and Avocado, n.d.)
(Storage - Save the Food, 2022)
(Donofrio, 2022)
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