We Love Cooking!:
avocado

  • :: Sally Bee's Prawn, Avocado and Pecan Herb Salad

    :: Sally Bee's Prawn, Avocado and Pecan Herb Salad

    If you haven't heard of Sally Bee before, and I hadn't up until recently, Sally is a mother of three who at the age of 36, despite a healthy lifestyle, suffered 3 major heart attacks in the space of one week. I'm not even going to go into the amazing story of her recovery, you really just have to read it. "The Secret Ingredient" is a collection of super healthy recipes which don't go over the top and features meals which are perfect for family home cooking.

    I recently got the opportunity to meet the lovely Sally Bee, and despite our extremely brief encounter she comes across as an extremely vibrant and fun individual and when I remarked on her incredible story, joked and feigned heart pains! This is one of the fantastic recipes from her book, "The Secret Ingredient" which is out on Thursday 21st of January and can be ordered online via Amazon.

    Prawn, Avocado and Pecan Herb Salad

    You know, salads don't have to be boring. This dish is full of flavour! You can serve it as a main meal or smaller portions for a healthy starter. If you don't like prawns, you can substitute with chicken; anything goes, really. Be adventurous with your salads and make this a regular, everyday dish. Prawns give great texture and flavour to this recipe, but they do contain cholesterol,so I have allowed only four prawns per serving. If you want to make it more substantial, you can add extra protein: such as tuna, chicken or turkey.

    Serves 2
    Drizzle of olive oil
    2 salad onions or spring onions (scallions),peeled and finely chopped
    1 garlic clove,peeled and crushed
    1 tbsp soy sauce
    Freshly ground black pepper
    8 uncooked king prawns (jumbo shrimp)
    Mixed salad leaves
    Watercress
    1 ripe avocado
    2 tomatoes, sliced
    Juice of 1 lemon
    Handful of fresh basil, torn
    Handful of shelled pecan nuts

    Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat.
    Add the chopped salad onions, crushed garlic, soy sauce, black pepper and raw prawns.
    Sauté until the prawns have turned pink all the way through.
    Arrange the salad leaves, watercress, avocado and tomatoes in a big dish, then pour over the prawns and other cooked ingredients.
    Squeeze over the lemon juice, sprinkle with torn basil and pecan nuts and serve.

    Follow Sally Bee on Twitter over here.

  • :: Avocado, Parmesan and Rocket Pasta

    :: Avocado, Parmesan and Rocket Pasta

    Who else is ready for the lighter foods season to start? I love Christmas and all the festive food that comes with it but after all the leftovers are eaten I am more than ready to start eating healthy dishes again. As January rolls in the focus will quickly change to healthy dishes to help all those with optimistic New Years resolutions and I can't wait!

    There is nothing more exciting for me than the feeling of starting something new! So as you can imagine I am already looking forward to 2010 and the start of a brand new decade. Now everyone has new years resolutions but sometimes its easier, if even a bit scary to look at the big picture and start thinking what the next 10 years might bring! I'm still having a think about where I want to be in 2020, but one of the big things on my list is to keep eating healthy food and exercising so I'm ready for the next ten years! So come on new decade we're READY FOR YA!

    Avocado, Parmesan and Rocket Pasta

    As I may or may not have mentioned I am addicted to avocados! They are packed with healthy nutrients and vitamins so all the more reason to eat them. I have been coming up with different recipes just to stick them in to my diet and this is one of my favourites. Look for avocados which are slightly soft to the touch when you press them with your fingers. The only thing to remember about avocados is that, unless you give them a spritz of lemon juice they tend not to like sitting around, so always prepare them last.

    Serves 4
    250g of wholemeal pasta
    70g of rocket leaves, roughly chopped
    2 avocados
    1 clove of garlic, minced
    2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
    1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
    A good handful of grated Parmesan cheese
    A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

    Cook the pasta according the instructions on the pack.
    While the pasta is cooking, add the rocket, Parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper to a mixing bowl and set aside.
    When the pasta is cooked, drain it and then add it to the bowl.
    Pour in the vinegar and olive oil and stir the pasta until it is nicely coated. You should end up with stringy cheesy green pasta- YUM!
    Slice the avocados in half and remove the stones, slice thinly and add to the pasta.
    Serve straight away and devour!

  • :: Bacon Avocado and Sundried Tomato Sandwich

    :: Bacon Avocado and Sundried Tomato Sandwich

    There are quite a lot of things that get me excited about food, but when it comes to sandwich ingredients, the combination of bacon and avocado always has me drooling! For many of us, lunch often becomes a chore rather than a pleasure, something that keeps us going between the days busy events. One of the best things you can do in order to ensure processed fast food doesn't become an option is to prepare in advance. Some cooked pasta with a little pesto and parmesan will always trump a big mac, plus your body will thank you for it! But when I do have time to eat at home for lunch this is one of my favourite sandwiches to make.

    Bacon Avocado and Sundried Tomato Sandwich
    Try and choose some tasty bacon from your butchers, it will make all the difference!

    Makes 4 tasty sandwiches.
    4 rashers of good quality bacon.
    1 nice ripe avocado.
    4 slices of Irish brown bread.
    A little butter to spread.
    75g of sundried or sunblushed tomatoes roughly chopped.
    A pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper.

    Place 4 rashers under a hot grill and cook on both sides till crispy. Toast 4 slices of Irish brown bread. Slice the avocado in half, remove the stone and carefully scoop out the flesh. Slice the avocado into half moon pieces. Butter the slices of toast and place a rasher of bacon on each slice. Top the bacon with pieces of avocado and tomatoes. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and ground black pepper. Serve straight away.

  • :: Balsamic Chicken with Avocado and Radish Salad

    :: Balsamic Chicken with Avocado and Radish Salad

    Hey there!

    Sorry to leave you hanging on the recipe front, I really got into writing the book last week, so it's left the blog a little quiet. But I haven't been far, I've been keeping up to date with the world of food blogging and beyond.

    I recently got a message from John Maguire who has set up a great little forum for all things Food in Ireland, at www.askaboutfood.ie. Take a look at the site- lots of interesting topics.

    Eoghan and Nathalie at CasaCaseyCourtney have announced they will be food blogging, and I'm looking forward to it, because they already have a great eye for pictures!

    A special congrats to Kate at LidlTreats who has exploded on to the blogging scene and has even made the National Evening News! Brilliant stuff!

    But now, back to our scheduled programming, I have a recipe!
    After writing out a grand menu plan for the week in order to keep things running smoothly, three days later it has gone to pieces and I haven't cooked one of the meals from it! But I'm not too disappointed, because in an attempt to save an Avocado from becoming over ripe, I came up with a tasty little salad.

    Even my just about overripe Avocado, is one of the true underrated super foods- It's packed with essential fatty acids, Vitamin K and antioxidants- it also makes a lovely face mask! (But you didn't hear that from me...) Radish's are often linked to aiding digestive problems and are beneficial for the teeth and gum's- So overall this salad is packed with nutrition and is a perfect Good Mood Food recipe!

    Enjoy! (In case your wondering, those are pea shoots on top of the salad.)

    Balsamic Chicken with Avocado and Radish Salad (Serves 2)

    1. 2 Free Range Chicken Breasts.
    2. 1 Avocado.
    3. 6 Baby Radishes.
    4. A Large Handful of Oak Leaf Lettuce Leaves.
    5. 1 Red Onion, cut in half and sliced wafer thin.
    6. 1 Small Garlic Clove, Peeled and Minced.
    7. 1 Teaspoon of Wholegrain Mustard.
    8. 2 Tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar.
    9. 6 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
    10. The Juice of Half A Lemon.
    11. A Good Pinch Of Coarse Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Peppercorns.
    If you have the time to marinade the chicken breasts overnight, by all means go ahead. Remove any fat (or "icky bits" as I've heard them reffered to in my kitchen) from the breasts and place in a zip loc baggy. Pour in 1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar, 3 Tablespoons of EV Olive Oil, the Juice of half a Lemon, and a pinch of Black Pepper, seal and give a good shake!
    In a jar, bowl, or whatever you want to make your dressing in, combine, 1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar, 3 Tablespoons of EV Olive Oil, Garlic, Wholegrain Mustard, and a pinch of Sea Salt. Whisk or shake to combine, set aside and prepare the salad.
    Place a good handful of lettuce leaves on each plate, and scatter with the red onion.
    Slice the Avocado in half and remove the stone, spoon out the green flesh and slice into thin strips, arrange on top of the salad. Cut the baby Radishes into quarters and place on the outside of the plate.
    Heat a large frying pan (I would use a griddle pan if I had one!) till just before it begins smoking and place the breasts on, you shouldn't need any extra oil as Olive Oil is used in the marinade. Cook for approx 4-5 Minutes either side, remove from the heat, let it rest (if you can wait...) and slice into thin strips. Arrange on top of the avocado and using a spoon dribble the dressing over the salad.

    Serve straight away!

  • :: Avocado Lime and Tobasco Salsa

    :: Avocado Lime and Tobasco Salsa

    I'm so totally in Summer mode at the moment! Especially after the weekend- we had great weather for the whole trip up through the Burren and up the coast towards Galway. I was really blown away by some of the scenery, but less so by the food on offer. Unfortunately I didn't have time to look up any great places to eat, so we ended up eating dinner at a pub in Doolin, mainly due to most of the restaurants being fully booked. I was hoping for some really solid pub grub, but unfortunately, the seafood platter was less than impressive and the sides for all the mains were basically soggy coleslaw! There were two guide recommended restaurants in the village, so next time I'll be sure to book ahead!

    Here's a few little foodie related links, I've come across over the last few days:

    1. Tasty Planner- One of the best sites I've come across which features a meal planner. You can drag and drop recipes into a meal planner which in turn adds the ingredients to a shopping list. Very handy!
    2. Cake Wrecks- This is not for the faint hearted, basically a blog full of weird and freaky cakes, say goodbye to your afternoon!
    3. Food Blogger Deals with Legal Issues- A really interesting post about recipe rights and copyright issues- well worth a read for bloggers.
    4. Messy Chef- A brand new Irish Food blogger! Check it out!
    Today's recipe involves no cooking and is basically all prep, it's a zingin' little salsa to go with tortilla chips, for quick munching!

    Adjust the quantity of ingredients to your own taste, use less Tabasco sauce if you want a milder mix.

    Avocado, Lime and Tabasco Salsa

    1. 1 Ripe Avocado.
    2. The Juice of one Lime.
    3. 1 Tsp of Tabasco Sauce.
    4. 1/2 a Red Onion.
    5. 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil.
    6. A Good pinch of Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper.
    Cut the avocado lengthways, and remove the stone. Scoop out the green flesh and chop finely, but don't worry too much, it all turns a bit mushy when you add the rest of the ingredients. Add to a small bowl. Chop the red onion finely and add to the Avocado. Mix together the rest of the ingredients with the onion and avocado to your desired consistency, and that's it! Enjoy!

    -Sorry the photo's are a bit crap today!