Green food for St. Patrick's Day: Avocado

by Shayna Glick, Posted Mar 10th 2008 @ 2:00PM

Ah the avocado, it is one of my favorite foods. I love it this delicious fruit on or in any recipe, even on its own. And yes, I said fruit. Technically this little ball of yumminess is a fruit. Wikipedia says "True berries are a simple fruit having seeds and edible pulp produced from a single ovary." The avocado qualifies for that classification.

The avocado originated in South America. The Aztecs referred to it as the fertility fruit. That was reflected in their name for it: ahuacatl which meant testicle. The Spanish couldn't pronounce that, though, so they called the fruit aguacate.

This wonderful food is also good for you. A lot of people site the fact that it's high in fat, but that fat is monounsaturated, which is not nearly as bad as saturated fat. Avocado is also high in potassium, B vitamins, vitamin K, vitamin E, and has lots of fiber.

Avocado is great in salads, curry (Thai style), and sandwiches to name a few. Some people even add it to ice cream or make it into a dessert drink with sugar and milk. Guacamole is probably the most famous use for the creamy goodness of avocado. Maybe it'll even show up on your St. Paddy feast!