Fresh Avocado Tomato Salad

With Spring here and it feeling like Summer in California, the desire for fresh food comes forth. Raw, fresh food but certainly not lacking flavor. So it was, a Saturday night, hanging with my brother and his girlfriend, Sophie. Sophie is an excellent cook and has a lot of experience doing so. She was going to make us tacos–perfectly cooked steak for everyone and wild-caught fish for me. I was all in. Growing up in California, tacos become your soul food. Along with tacos, come the necessity of the avocado in one’s life. Rich with delicious healthy fat and the creaminess to save any dish, I was ready to be her sous chef and make the side dish–fresh Avocado & Tomato salad.

Jul192013

5-Minute Healthy Snack Recipe

Before we went to bed last night, I was feeling a little hungry and I also knew that my macros were a little low too. However, I was also feeling tired and lazy, and didn’t want to do anything with too much prep. So what better to combine two of my favorite things? Avocado and egg. This is low in carbohydrates, low in calories, and medium-high in healthy fats! Perfect for a snack any time of the day, but mine just so happened to be around bed time. This recipe takes no longer than 5 minutes and is so delicious to boot!

Prep Time: 1 minute
Cooking Time: 2-4 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 small avocado
1 egg (we are house-sitting right now and get fresh eggs from the chickens every morning!)
Frank’s hot sauce (optional)

Directions

Cut avocado in half
Crack an egg and put it in a small saucepan on medium heat
While the egg is cooking, scrape out the avocado and place it on a plate kind of in a pile

When the egg is done (I like over-easy), simply place the egg on top of the avocado and let the yolk drizzle out
If you’d like, pour some hot sauce on top (Frank’s + eggs= heaven)

Yum yum yum!

And that’s it! A healthy, quick snack any time of the day. High in nutrients and it won’t break the calorie bank if you’re worried about that. The textures are gooey and warm–a melt in your mouth sinful sort of feeling. I can’t wait to make this again. Simple is usually the best way to go. Cheers! Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Even though he’s taking my spot, he’s so damn adorable

Jan262013

Hungry’s Secret Recipes: Humming Chicken Star Deluxe

My father taught me much about sandwiches while growing up. While Mom was always making creative and sophisticated dishes, Dad was the master of the art of sandwich. And it was not something to be messed with in the house. If you didn’t toast your bread, you were a punk. Cheese and salami on bread? Not a real sandwich. He invented the super deluxe sandwich, with all the fixings. Lettuce, pickles, cole slaw… anything in the fridge was fair game to be put on the sandwich.

Being from the New York area and having the earl of sandwich in the house, I inherited a love for the sandwich. My standards are high, even though I’ll eat just about anything. The philosophy hasn’t changed, put stuff on it, and toast it, or you’re just an ingrate.

Without a ton of time before work and having to go in the water for four hours, and five without food, I knew I had to throw together a nice sandwich that wouldn’t hurt my stomach at all. Since I’m getting back into working out, I also wanted a good amount of protein, calories, and carbs since it’s still early in the day and I need my fuel. The catch is that I woke up with some cold symptoms including a sore throat and congestion, so I wanted to avoid cheese and thickening agents.

Here are the ingredients:

1 Morningstar Original Griller
1 large can of Chunk light tuna
hummus, plain
mustard, Gulden’s
butter, land o lakes
whole wheat bread, 3 pieces
1 avocado, large

(I forgot pickles, really just a lack of time)

And the pictures show the rest.

Get the avocado on there

Next comes the tuna

DON’T FORGET TO TOAST IT

Essentially, create a monster stacking sandwich that has toasted bread. First toast the bread. Then construct as the pictures show. Then cover in butter and toast on the stove top. Take that Dad. Feel free to add lettuce and pickles.

Ready to be eaten

Nutritional Facts: Way over 50 grams of protein. That’s all you need to know.

Be hungry!

Aug282012

Home-Made [EASY] Chips & Guac

Let’s be honest. Has anyone ever in the HISTORY OF THE WORLD ever said no to an offer of chips and guacamole? No, I don’t think so.

I had two avocados hiding in our cabinet. And a tomato in the fridge. Hmmm…what could I POSSIBLY do with these two ingredients? I think you know the answer. However, we didn’t have any tortilla chips (I know, a travesty), and they just go so well with guacamole. But…we did have some tortillas that were going to get old soon. Aha! It’s all coming together now!

Okay so first, let’s get out these corn tortillas. I use Mission Corn Tortillas (see below). I’m not even going to post an “Ingredients” section for the chips because it’s literally tortillas, olive oil, and salt. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Now, go have fun and rip them into little pieces. I used only about five tortillas. Think of how many chips you can actually make if you used the WHOLE bag (30). Put olive oil on the baking sheet before you plop dem tortilla pieces on. Then sprinkle salt all over.

Now let them cook for however long you like. 10 minutes, they’ll be a little soft. I left them in for around 15 minutes to get a nice crunch. Okay, we’ll get back to these when they’re ready from the oven. Let’s get to the important matter…the guac.

Get your ingredients ready!

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados
1 tomato
1 lemon
2 garlic cloves
Plenty of salt n peppa

First, let’s tackle the avocados. Now I wish I took a picture of this, but the best technique I’ve found is to put the knife you’re using on the avocado, press down til you hit the core (the pit), and circle it all around the avocado until you’ve made it full-circle. Then grab each half of the avocado and pull! If they are the proper ripeness, they should pull a part easily, making it really easy to scoop the goods out.

Now that you’ve scooped it all into a bowl, mash it up!! And have some fun with it! Next, cut up the lovely in-season tomato (small pieces), the garlic, and constantly put pepper and (especially) salt. Once you feel everything is properly seasoned, cut open a lemon, and squeeze that baby out. The lemon (I know people normally use lime–use whatever you want) will give it that nice zesty taste, but also it will preserve it if you want to keep it in the fridge for a bit. Avocados have a tendency to brown fairly easily.

Now that the guac is all mixed up, GO BACK AND TASTE IT! Make sure it has enough salt, guacamole can be notorious for not being salty enough to fill that need. Did you hear something? DING! Chips are ready! (Just kidding, I still don’t have an oven timer). Pull them out of the oven and let them sit for a few minutes so you don’t burn your tongue (like I did after being over-eager and piggish).

They are goooood. So that’s pretty much it. We loved it so much, we made another batch of chips to finish off the guacamole. One of the best things about home cooking is that you know what’s in the food you’re cooking so you have no reason to feel guilty about it, which is an awesome feeling.

Maybe you have a party coming up (Labor Day is right around the corner) and want some awesome snacks that will impress the neighbors (or friends), but won’t cut a hole out of your wallet. Get this:

A bag of Mission Yellow Corn Tortillas (which contain 30) costs under $3. Avocados are still in season (hurry before fall ends!), so you can get them for $1 a piece. All you need are tomatoes, which can be found for roughly 59 cents each. Now you do the math. I had a whole pan-full of chips from FIVE tortillas. Imagine you did THIRTY? You’re going to have a ton of chips and if you get 4-5 avocados and 2-3 tomatoes, you’re going to have a TON of chips and guacamole, for a huge price of under $10. And trust me, your friends will love you. And invite me too, because I will do anything for a scoop of guac.