Healthy Cooking Columns
Avocados
Avocados are really good for you.
Avocados grow in tropic and subtropic climates. They are actually a fruit and not a vegetable. For a long time the only avocados available in the grocery were from Florida and California. Even though Florida was the first state in the U.S. to cultivate them, about 80% of domestic avocados in the grocery today are from California and the most common you will see is the Haas avocado. (There is now a huge import market from Central and South America.)
The Haas avocado is the one with the pebbly skin and is a little smaller in size. The other common variety is the slightly larger, more teardrop shaped = Fuerte. Look for evenly colored green or dark green skin with no cuts or blemishes.
Because of today’s produce market, avocados are available pretty much year ’round. Like most fruits they are very fragile and are now picked very much unripe. The best way to ripen them is as you would with peaches, by placing them in a paper bag for about two days. You can find ripened ones in the market because they ripen fairly quickly but it’s a bit of a treasure hunt. A ripe avocado will give slightly to very gentle pressure. Don’t refrigerate them unless they have been cut. I prefer to eat them fairly quickly after they ripen, but they will keep up to about a week in the fridge.
Avocados are essentially a fat. While a cup of slices is only about 120 calories, it’s mostly fat. But… they are really low in saturated fat and have tons of good monounsaturated fat (read that GOOD fat). They also have a lot of fiber, as well as being high in Vitamin C.
1/2 cup sliced avocado = 117 calories, 10 g fat, 1.5 g sat fat, 7 g mono fat, 1.5 g protein, 6 g carbohydrates, 5 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol, Vitamin K 15 mcg
For more about Florida Avocados visit:
http://www.fl-ag.com/tropical/avocado.htm
For more about California Avocados visit:
http://www.avocado.org/
If you want to grow avocados, here’s a good site for just that:
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/seed/2002114535011263.html
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