Recipes for Tired Palates

Avocado growers will tell you the fruit is just about the most nutritious food known to man.

“There’s an old Mayan saying,” said longtime grower Jack Sheperd. “An avocado, and a few tortillas, a cup of coffee and you have a good meal.”

Half an avocado has 153 calories and about 14 grams of fat (mostly the good, mono-unsaturated kind). It has no cholesterol. The fruit is rich in folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin C and vitamin A. It is also a good source of copper and magnesium.

More avocados are consumed as guacamole than any other way, and, like barbecue sauce, everyone has his own recipe.

This one by Maria Guadalupe Olea won a $5,000 first prize from the California Avocado Commission four years ago:

GUACAMOLE Ingredients:

2-3 garlic cloves

8-10 canned roasted chiles

2 tomato e s sliced to 3/8 of an inch thickness and grilled in a Teflon or seasoned skillet with a little cooking oil

6-8 avocados

Small amount of white onion

Two raw tomato e s , chopped

Crumbled cotija cheese

Small amount of cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

A few drops lemon or lime juice.

Directions:

Mash together chiles, avocados and the raw tomatoes with the salt and pepper using a pestle and moloajeta (or a food processor). Chop the remaining ingredients and add to the mixture. Then sprinkle in a few drops of lemon or lime juice and sprinkle on the cheese. Garnish by arranging avocado slices around the guacamole to form petals of a flower.

Other recipes are available from the California Avocado Commission by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Ripe California Avocado Recipes, P.O. Box 653, Orange CA 92665. Or you can call for more information at ( 714 ) 558-6761.