Walking home for lunch today, I mentally reviewed the contents of my fridge. I knew that there was a lot of lettuce in there, as well as radishes, garlic scapes, broccoli and a dozen local eggs. However, I wasn't thrilled by the idea of a salad with an egg (or a salad with half a can of tuna fish). When I walked into the apartment, I was feeling discouraged by the options but still went directly to the kitchen and took a full turn (not a long trip in my tiny galley kitchen), trying to find something that would satisfy and still be quick enough that I could prepare it and eat in my remaining 45 minutes.
Opening the refrigerator, I spotted an avocado I had balanced on top of a jar of jam a day or two ago, when it had started to get too soft. My eyes then noticed the bag of baked tortilla chips tucked on top of the radio and they inspired me to search for a can of black beans. Grabbing half an onion out of the fridge, I diced up a tiny amount and started to sauté it in a small pan with a little olive oil. I added a minced clove of garlic and the rinsed beans, smashing them with the back of a wooden spoon as they started to heat up. I mashed half the avocado with a squirt of lemon juice and some salt.
When I was done, I had a plate that had a pile of half-smashed beans (onion, garlic, salt and pepper), a small mound of fresh guacamole and a big pile of torn romaine lettuce. Grabbing the bag of chips, I settled down at the dining room table with a book and ate this quick, special, delicious lunch. It was particularly satisfying because I had initially felt like I was heading towards an apartment devoid of anything good to eat.
What are some of the treasures you've discovered when you thought your larder was bare?
If you peeled your colored Easter eggs and stored them in the refrigerator in cold water, they're probably still good to eat, but how many hard boiled eggs can one eat?!?!
I can eat a lot. I love eggs, particularly hard-boiled ones, which I could pop all day long at my desk. Unfortunately, while eggs aren't bad for me, like everything else, too much of those luscious yolks isn't a good thing. Sunday afternoon, we transformed our hard-boiled eggs into "angelled" eggs, like devilled eggs, but not as, uh, evil. Instead of the usual mayonnaise/yolk filling (double does of fat!) we filled half of them with avocado (basically a guacamole minus the cilantro and chopped onions) and the other half with the usual devilled egg mixture, replacing the mayonnaise with fat-free plain yogurt.
Naturally, I'm going to have nachos while watching the Super Bowl, but before the guests arrive, it's a good idea to set out what is basically "nachos light" because it doesn't have to be served hot: tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole and maybe a bean and cheese dip on which to snack all day.
In the last few days, we've talked about chicken wings and chili, queso and pizzas. However, our food choices have mostly been directed by our own personal likes and dislikes. Over at Ask.com, they've taken a more scientific approach towards Super Bowl food, tallying their search results in order to create a list of the Ten Most Popular Super Bowl Snacks. According to their study, here are most popular foods.
Chili
Pizza
Meatballs
Salsa
Ribs
Spinach dip
Wings
Guacamole
Quesadillas
Artichoke dip
Of these foods, what are you planning on serving at your Super Bowl party? (Personally, I'll take any excuse to eat guacamole, which is why I picked Slashfood Flickr pool member You Can Count on Me's picture of it to illustrate this post).
No, I don't need to give you yet another recipe for guacamole.
Not only are there plenty of them out there, but a recipe for guacamole is like a "recipe" for a bowl of cereal or pasta salad, i.e. it doesn't really require one. It's enough to say that the basics are avocados, garlic, onion, scallions, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper, and sometimes, chopped tomatoes. You mash them together and adjust everything to your taste. I usually leave cilantro out because that vile stuff tastes like dirty soap to me.
Though it tastes and feels like it would be naughty because it's so creamy, guacamole can be considered a "healthy" snack. Guacamole is made of all vegetables, and though people seem to focus on the "fat" part of avocado, the truth is, the fat may be fattening (like any fat), but it's still a "good" fat.
However, I have this thing I do to guacamole that pretty much yanks guacamole off the "healthy" table and hurls it down into the deep fat fryer with things like Buffalo wings with Blue Cheese Dressing and French Onion Dip.
I add a giant -- no, make that enormous -- dollop of sour cream to my guacamole. Not that good, ripe avocados need it, but the full fat sour cream makes guacamole even creamier, and adds a different tang in addition to the lime juice.
If you have a "secret" or interesting addition to guacamole, let us know in the comments!
Really now, when you think of food porn, that last thing you think of is bean dip, right? Okay, maybe a luxurious cannellini bean spread drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, or perhaps even a deep, dark sultry black bean dip, but seven layer dip? That's the stuff made with brown lumpy stuff that's mashed together with pork lard then layered together into a congealed rainbow of Taco Bell flavors most often found pre-made in the grocery store refrigerated section. There is nothing sexy about Seven Layer Dip.
Unless it's the Seven Layer Bean Dip over at Simply Recipes. Unlike all those supermarket dips, Elise demands that the refried beans as the first layer be hot. I agree. Who wants to bite into a lump of cold, hard smashed beans? When the refried beans are hot, then the next layer, shredded cheese, melts itself all over it, creating quite the pornographic seven layer dip pictured above.
You'll never be able to look at Seven Layer Dip the same way again.
I adore chipotle peppers. They may be trendy, but that doesn't take away from the fact that they are very tasty. Chipotle peppers are smoked jalapenos and are usually packed in cans in an adobo sauce. The original process was developed to preserve the peppers, but the smoky flavor and lingering heat of the chipotle long ago caused it to become popular in its own right. That heat makes a nice background to the cool, creamy avocado in this guacamole.
You can choose to make it either creamy or chunky, depending on what you want to serve it with. Chunky guacamoles tend to work best with chips and crackers, as both provide ample surface area for scooping. Creamier dips are a better choice for veggies and pretzels, or other snacks that don't make for a good scoop. For a chunky dip, simply mince everything and stir it together to blend. For an ultra-creamy dip, use the food processor to combine everything.
These avocado and chili pepper-shaped serving bowls are just the thing to present your favorite salsa, guacamole or other dip at your SuperBowl party. The covered bowls are made out of ceramic and hand-painted to add the vibrant colors that almost make them look real. Each one includes a cover, a coordinating serving spoon and recipes.
For hot dips, a, electric chip and dip set might come in handy. It has an electric power base that will gently heat the included 22-oz. stoneware crock in the center of the serving plate, ensuring that every dip you serve stays pleasantly warm regardless of how long you need it to sit out. The power base has an on/off switch so that it doesn't have to be left on all the time.
If you want something that is specifically designed for the big game, check out the Wincraft Super Bowl XLI Snack Helmet, which includes a realistic, logo-bearing helmet with two snack bowls: one on top of the helmet and one inside the facemask. It's best for serving chips, pretzels or other dry snacks, but the uppermost bowl has a lid if you choose to use it for a salsa or dip that might need to be covered.
Mash up some vegetables and spices, add in a splash of lime and what do you get? Some rockin' guacamole, just like this one featured on Gluten Free Goddess. The thing that sets this guacamole apart from others, aside from a lovely presentation with slices of lime, is that it uses tomatillos and jalapeno peppers, in addition to the fairly standard combination of tomatoes, onions, garlic and avocado. The dip is colorful, packed with flavor and more than enough to be a meal on its own if you're looking for something that doesn't involve any cooking for an easy lunch.
No doubt you noticed that the blog the recipe comes from is about gluten free foods. Guacamole is a great choice for anyone with a wheat intolerance - it's good for just about anyone actually - because it pairs much better than the average dip with corn tortilla chips, one of the favorite snacks of many gluten-free eaters.
The average person will eat 1200 calories of high fat
snack food while watching the Super Bowl, not including a few beers or sodas to wash down those munchies. And while it
is a good idea to provide enough snack foods
to satisfy the cravings of your guests, it is nice to snack with your friends without ending up looking like a member of
your favorite football team.
Potato chips are the number one snack. Test out a few brands that bake their chips instead of frying them to find one you like,
or make your own pita chips. Better yet, leave
out the chips and fill your plates with chopped and sliced vegetables, which are crunchy and go great with almost any
dip. If your favorite dip happens to be high in fat - a spicy cheese or hot artichoke dip - do yourself a favor and use
vegetables or crackers for dipping instead of chips. Pretzels, both hard and soft, are often low in fat and make great snack
food, especially when paired with mustard or some other dip.
Avocados are da bomb. I love them. I grew up in Hawaii where they were abundant. I have
childhood memories of halving them and eating them sprinkled with sugar (don't knock it till you try it), drizzled with
balsamic vinegar, or mashed onto buttered toast.
When I was pregnant, I ate an avocado almost every day
during my second trimester when the cravings hit hard. But the way I like avocado the best, is in guacamole. It is my
favorite party "dip" by far. My guacamole is more like a chunky, chopped salad, and is delicious served
with warm tortilla chips or atop chili.
Oxidation is essentially the process by which something starts to break down once it has been exposed to air, as
some metals - notably iron and copper - will rust when left untended. When a cut fruit, such as an avocado, banana
or apple is exposed to air, its flesh also begins oxidize, discoloring and turning to an unappetizing shade of brown.
The trick to keep avocados, guacamole and any other dip with the buttery, green fruit from turning brown
is to add citric acid to it.
Citric acid is a weak,
naturally occuiring acid that is found in many fruits and vegetables, though its highest concentration is in lemons and
limes, which are up to 8% citric acid. In addition to imparting a slightly sour taste to citrus fruits, it is a strong
antioxidant. Adding just a teaspoon or two of the acid to a
mashed avocado, or brushing a bit on the surface of an apple, will keep the fruit looking as though it were just cut. A
splash of lemon or lime juice in your guacamole will keep it green and tempting from the moment it is made, until there
isn't enough left to dip a chip.
Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest day of the year for avocado consumption, when Americans consume over 49.5 million pounds of the creamy green fruits. It's also a big day
for California, whose producers account for 95% of the national avocado crop.
Avocados are technically classified as a type of berry, growing natively from flowering trees in Mexico and Central
America. There are hundreds of types of avocados,
but only a few are grown commercially. Hass avocados are the most common for the reason that they are produced year
round, unlike other, strictly seasonal varieties. All avocados have a green or yellowish interior that is creamy and
soft when ripe. Like bananas, avocados ripen off the tree after being picked by hand to avoid bruising. Unripe avocados are
extremely hard, but they will ripen within several days of being picked. A ripe avocado will yield to slightly pressure
on its skin. The skin of hass avocados will turn from green to black when they are ripe, though such an obvious color
change is not present in all varieties of the fruits.
Homer Simpson would love 
The average person will eat 
Avocados are da bomb. I love them. I grew up in Hawaii where they were abundant. I have
childhood memories of halving them and eating them sprinkled with sugar (don't knock it till you try it), drizzled with
balsamic vinegar, or mashed onto buttered toast.
Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest day of the year for avocado consumption, when Americans consume over 
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