How To
Avo Shaping, Without The Waste!
I love avocado!
Along with the rest of the world, I’m totally consuming avocados in record numbers – I’ve always loved them, but definitely more than ever before and I’m sure it’s got to do with all of their incredible health benefits.
Sometimes I wear myself a little thin and don’t really feel like one, or maybe I just like the visual variety, but I try to do lots of different things with them.
There are endless glorious green images of avocados being sculpted and moulded to fit and decorate various meals and dishes. Some of these tricks are quite complex or time consuming, but others are a lot simpler than you may think.
In the videos I’ll be continuing to post here, I want to share with you a variety of technical tutorials, tips and tricks to help empower you to be more creative in the kitchen.
Waste Tips: Avocado Pits
All you have to do with the pit is wash it and stick three toothpicks around the pointy upper third of the pit. Place the pit in a jar of water so that most but not the entire pit is submerged. In five days, put the jar in a spot that receives a lot of sunlight. Once you see roots and leaves sprouting, you can transplant the pit to potting soil. Water once a week and watch your little plant flourish!
Waste Tips: Avocado Peel
Avocado contains a lot of fatty acids that are great for skin and hair. And after using an avocado, there’s probably still a little left in the peel (if not – leave some!). Rub the peel over your face or hair, or scrape it the last pieces of avocado out. Leave on for 20 minutes!
Waste Tips: Avocado Seeds
Seeds can be used as scrubbing agents! Using a sharp knife or a hammer, break the kernel in a few pieces, then leave to dry for a few days. Then you can run the seed in a blender until you have a fine powder. Mix this with oil or yogurt or just rub on your skin as it is for an exfoliation that will leave you with glowing skin. You can do this with other seeds as well, such as apricot or tomato.
Diet and Lifestyle Notes
Avocados are so good for all these reasons and probably more:
- Avocados are a good source of monounsaturated fat – the good fat, which helps us maintain healthy weight, control blood sugar and improve our absorption of nutrients
- Avocados are rich in potassium
- Avocados are rich in B vitamins
- Avocados are rich in carotenoids
- Avocados are rich in Vitamin E
- Avocados have a good amount of fibre
- Avocados have almost zero sugar
- Avocados can considerably reduce our bodies’ bad cholesterol
- Avocados are good for liver and oral health
- Avocados are super versatile and easy to add to many savoury dishes as well as combined with only a couple other ingredients to create desserts such as a vegan chocolate mousse.
Avocados are also:
- Grain Free
- Gluten Free
- Refined Sugar Free
- Sugar Free – Low Fructose
- Dairy Free
- Nut Free
- Paleo Friendly
- Ketogenic Friendly
- BulletProof Friendly
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Pescatarian
Author
Elena Duggan
Winner of MasterChef 2016, Elena Duggan takes us back to her golden moment ahead of her return to the show as a guest chef in Season 9.
