There is definitely no shortage of sweets or desserts available in college (often free, and who can resist free?!). Also considering the fact that the only edible food found at our dining hall is carbs (pizza, pasta, and cookies), my desire to bake cupcakes or cook my go-to pasta dishes when I come home kind of goes down the drain. Instead, I crave healthy things like edamame and spinach… Crazy. I know.
Seeing as I woke up so late this morning that it was basically lunch time, I thought I would fix myself something yummy and give this poor neglected blog an update. I’ve been using this recipe for several years now, but I always thought it was too hard to make mashed avocados look good for photographs. Every time I made it, I would tell myself that this was the day to post my recipe on the blog… but nope, avocados not green enough. Lighting not good enough. Composition all wrong.
This is probably my third or fourth time trying to shoot this dish. And you know what? I give up. People are just going to have to face the fact that sometimes food does not look as good as it tastes. And also sometimes I would rather eat my food than spend an hour taking pictures of it. #sorrynotsorry
I don’t do a ton of cooking or food preparation in my dorm, but when I feel like splurging at the grocery store, I get ingredients to make guacamole. It’s basically the same as this recipe but with a few changes in proportions, and I mash the avocados more. Sometimes I leave out the cilantro altogether because you only ever use a tiny sprig of it, but you have to buy the whole bunch. And instead of buying an entire head of garlic, I just throw in some garlic powder… The moral of the story is that this recipe is actually a two-in-one because you can use it for bruschetta (dignified grown-up brunch food) or chips and guac (girls’ night food) – so versatile.
Recipe: Avocado Bruschetta
Ingredients
- 2 medium ripe avocados
- Juice of 1/2 a lime
- 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 clove garlic, minced
- 2 TB finely chopped cilantro leaves
- 3/4 of a large Roma tomato, diced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 French baguette, sliced about 1/2 inch thick (you will have more bread than topping with a full French baguette)
- olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degree F. Place the baguette slices on a large baking sheet and lightly brush with olive oil. Place in the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes, or until baguette slices are fragrant and lightly toasted. Set aside.
- Cut the avocados in half and twist to separate. Remove the pits. Make 3-4 vertical slices in each half. Grab the pointy end of a slice and push on the outside to remove the peels. Place the avocado slices in a medium bowl.
- Squeeze the lime half over the bowl to prevent oxidization, and toss with a spoon to coat. While tossing, use the spoon to coarsely chop up the avocado slices.
- Add the onion, garlic, cilantro, and tomato and mix it all together. The mixing action should further chop up the avocado slices. Depending on how ripe your avocados are, be careful not to mash them completely because you want there to be small chunks. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Place a spoonful of guacamole onto each slice of the toasted baguette. Serve.
Number of servings (yield): ~12-15 slices depending on how generous you are with the topping
Inspired by Two Peas and Their Pod