Avocado * Avocado * Avocado!

Perfection.

Is it me? Or are the avocados lately beyond delicious? I have been eating one a day for several weeks and it's a groove I'm happy about. Avocados are great with every meal; spread on toast for breakfast, sliced into a sandwich for lunch and added to a salad for dinner, just to name a few. 

I made an egg salad yesterday with fresh dill and made a sandwich around it and it just didn't seem complete without avocado. Here's an example of toddler lunch meets infant lunch meets adult lunch. My toddler had egg salad. My infant had some baked sweet potato that I mashed and some avocado, also mashed. I put it all together for this awesomeness - sweet potato spread on one piece of whole grain bread with sprouts, egg salad and avocado. Check this out: 

Avocado is on the menu for dinner tonight, too. The salad below is loaded with protein, fiber, good fats and vitamin E. It's going to be the main event for our dinner tonight with a side slaw of kale with carrot, apple and a gingery dressing that I found here. The sunflower seeds add a delightful crunch and serve as a great substitution for nuts. In fact, I've used sunflower seeds in the kale slaw in place of almonds and have been using sunflower seeds in one way or another almost every day lately.  

Chickpea, Avocado and Farro Salad with Sunflower Seeds

1 can of chickpeas, drained
2 avocados, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups cooked farro
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
Juice of one lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch of cayenne (optional)
1/4 cup of roasted shelled sunflower seeds (plus extra for garnish) 
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved (optional) 
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the chickpeas, avocado and farro. Add chives, mint and cilantro and toss. Add lemon juice, olive oil and cayenne and gently mix. Finally toss in the roasted sunflower seeds and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the extra sunflower seeds on top for an added crunch.  I've added sliced grape tomatoes for a pop of color but frankly, I think the recipe is delicious with or without them.
Enjoy! 

DIY Black Bean Wraps for Meatless Monday

So it's April. Yay! Today felt like Spring is actually going to arrive at some point... but I'm not holding my breath just yet. I'm still craving hearty fare despite today's sunny skies so to celebrate Meatless Monday, I made a big ol' pot of black beans and decided on DIY black bean wraps for tonight's dinner. 
I bought these lovely pale fleshed, purple skin yams and decided to roast them, along with some carrot sticks (375 drizzled with olive oil for 30 minutes). On the DIY plate, I included some firm tofu - my kids are not fans of tofu but I like to reintroduce foods every now and then to gauge whether tastes have changed. The avocados I've had lately have been absolutely outstanding! We eat avocado pretty much every night around here. And we have fruit with dinner every night too, so I sliced a mango to go inside of our wraps. My daughter loves cheese but my son does not. The shredded monterey jack cheese is for her. I found these wraps at my local grocery called Mountain Bread Oat Wraps. Man, are these good! They're thin and they roll nicely. 

Here's what I did with the black beans:

1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of chopped garlic
2 cans of black beans, drained
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon white vinegar

I sauteed the red onion with the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. When the onions started to brown along the edges, I added the chopped garlic. After about 3 minutes, I added the black beans, cilantro, salt, cumin and white vinegar. I let this all simmer together for about an hour, stirring occasionally. 

Success! The kids were enthusiastic about making their own wraps! Happy Meatless Monday! ​

Homemade Sushi - Easy and Delicious!

My daughter has spring recess from school this week and we just got home yesterday from a little excursion. Today's adventure in the kitchen was declared "one of the best things we've ever made together, Mama!" Wow. 

She requested sushi in her lunchbox next week so we decided to make a test run today just for fun. We used an egg and a perfectly ripe avocado and made a go of it. The process was fun and easy for my kindergartner and the outcome is really tasty for both of us. You can put a lot of different ingredients into a sushi roll - chicken egg, veggies, even fruit I suppose. My gal is so proud of the work she has done and she is too busy gobbling it up to pose for a picture! 

Here's how you can make your own sushi for your child's lunchbox:

• 1 package of nori (toasted seaweed)
• 2 TB rice vinegar
• 1 cup sushi rice
• avocado
• 1 egg, scrambled

Prepare the sushi rice as directed -- we brought 1 cup of raw rice with 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. When done, we added 2 TB rice vinegar and stirred.

Lay a piece of nori on a mat and sprinkle lightly with water. spread the rice evenly on the nori, making sure to leave room on the edges (about 1/2 inch). Place the avocado slices and egg pieces along the bottom edge of the rice and roll up the nori like a burrito. Seal the edges with wet fingertips. Slice with a sharp knife and enjoy!

Note: these are best in a lunchbox when packed in tightly.