I realized I have made several references to the Almighty Avocado since starting this blog, so you may already be sensing that I am obsessed. Avocados are a superfood. They are packed with nutrients. They are full of fat, but it’s the good kind, like almonds, or olive oil. They are creamy and delicious like butter, or cheese. They require no teeth.
Flashback to Babyman around 6 months of age. Sure, we’d tried brown rice cereal and sweet potatoes, but it was the avocado that really rang his little gastronomic bell. This tiny person could take down a half an avocado, mixed with breast milk or formula and rice and then mashed up, every night of the week. This coincided with our final rounds of sleep training, and it was the avocado ritual that allowed us to suffer through his 2 a.m. crying without worry that he was starving. All those good fats and vitamins comforted us that he was, in fact, sated. And eventually he slept. And then, of course, so did we. He also got really, really pudgy…which is just cute on a baby that age.
Now that Babyman has gotten sort of picky, the avocado continues to provide a measure of comfort. If he’s had a low-calorie day, I just give him that half an avocado at dinner time and I still think we all sleep a better.
Sometimes it’s a spread, sometimes it’s a filling, sometimes it’s a dip–and sometimes it’s just carved into chunks and served in a bowl. But here are a couple of handy favorites:
Avocado & Black Bean Mash-up
1 avocado
1/2 cup low-sodium black beans, rinsed
juice of 1/4 lemon
Peel avocado and cut into chunks in a bowl. Add black beans and lemon, and, using a fork, mash it all up. The lemon will keep the avocado from turning brown, so you can keep this mash in the fridge in an airtight container for a couple of days (if it gets brown, just give it a good stir and the green will show up again).
Use mash-up as a filling for quesadillas with chicken or ripe mango, or mix with brown rice and finely shredded cheddar for a hearty & nutritious one-bowl baby meal.
Avocado & Cream Cheese Sandwich
1/4 extra-ripe avocado
1 tsp cream cheese
1/2 pita round
This is a go-anywhere sandwich or snack that is actually relatively tidy thanks to the pita pocket holding the spread inside. Open the pita like a pocket. Scoop out avocado and spread onto pita. Do the same with the cream cheese. Press pita closed and cut into wedges.
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