Meatless Monday: Avocado aka Alligator Pear

Guest blog, Alida Duncan, Development and Marketing Director at Hunger Free Vermont

This March, in celebration of National Nutrition Month, each one of us at Hunger Free Vermont will be writing a nutrition related blog post inspired by an ingredient we picked out of a hat. My pick was avocado! I love avocados. I often put them in my salads as they add a delicious creamy texture when tossed with my typical olive oil and vinegar dressing. Not only do I love the flavor, but they also help increase absorption of powerful antioxidants (lycopene and beta-carotene) by 200-400% when added to romaine lettuce, spinach, and/or carrots.

Growing up in Vermont, avocados were not a large part of my diet. I still can’t get my parents to appreciate them the same way I do. Perhaps it was falling in love with Mexican culture that helped fuel my avocado passion (the avocado originated in Puebla, Mexico and is obviously a staple in Mexican cuisine) —coupled with my time living in California where they grew on trees in my neighborhood! It was such a foreign concept for a Vermont girl!

Outside of adding avocados to my salads, I also make a mean guacamole, or chop avocado up and add it to salsa (which also increases absorption of carotenoids), substitute pureed avocado for mayonnaise, and make avocado pesto! While I am not an official vegetarian, I do limit my meat consumption and tend to eat vegetarian cuisine. In honor of Meatless Monday, I am really excited to have stumbled across this, “Avocados go Vegetarian” board on Pinterest with a range of vegetarian recipes using avocados. I am particularly intrigued by this Spicy Quinoa Stuffed Avocado recipe. Pairing the range of nutritional benefits of avocados with the superfood that is quinoa sounds like not only a delicious recipe, but a prescription for good health!