Banana Avocado Smoothie

I bought unripe avocado last week because they were on sale at one of the supermarket that I go to and they have ripened really well so I made some smoothie today. I used both avocado and banana which is a perfect combination. I also added milk and a few ice cubes. They result is a very creamy smoothie which has the consistency that is almost similar to soft serve ice cream.

I think the frozen banana really did help to make it very thick and creamy. I bought a little too many bananas (again) last week which ripened almost all at the same time. I intended to make some banana-nut bread but I was just not in the mood to bake so I ended up with too many bananas that were really ripe. I was going to throw them away since I am not really a big banana eater but it was such a waste since there was too many so I peeled and cut them in half. I then wrapped them individually in waxed paper, placed them in freezer bags, and popped them in the freezer. Wrapping them in waxed paper prior to placing them in freezer bags made removing easier since it prevented the bananas from sticking to each other when frozen. This little trick is a keeper for me. It also cut down the amount of ice cubes which I needed to add for the smoothies.


Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado
1 frozen banana
sugar, according to desired sweetness
1 cup milk
3 ice cubes


1. Cut avocado in half then scrape the flesh using spoon and place in blender.
2. Add frozen banana, milk, sugar and blend until smooth.
3. Add ice cubes and blend some more until smooth.
4. transfer to glass/es and serve.

Avocado Mousse

The avocado that I bought has gently ripened so I decided to make avocado mousse. This is quite simple and requires just four ingredients. The outcome though is great because it was light and delicious. The lightness is due to the incorporation of whipped cream into the avocado mixture. If you do not have a food processor, You can mash together all the ingredients (except cream) using fork until it reaches a pureed consistency. Make sure though that the sugar has dissolved well.


Avocado is one of those fruits that is common in the Philippines though we have several different varieties that are usually bigger in size compared to the ones that are found here in the States. We have a sticky variety whose peel remains green even though it is fully ripe. That one is not very common though even in the Philippine but the taste is really nice. When I was young, we used to take ripened avocado and mash it with forks together with condensed milk and then place it in the freezer to let it harden a little. Yummy...


Up until the latter part of last year, I have not bought any avocado since I moved here int eh States. I've had avocado as a guacamole which we buy but never have made any or used avocado myself for nearly 17 years. I do not know why but the avocado sold in the supermarket just looked weird to me. I somehow thought it would taste different than what I have remembered. Then I found an avocado salad recipe which I really liked so I bought some ripe avocado. I laughed because they just look so tiny compared to the ones we have in the Philippines. When made and tasted the salad, it reminded me of how great avocado taste. Since that time, I have been experimenting on different avocado dishes and this is one of the avocado dishes that I really liked. Silly me...

Ingredients:

2 Ripe avocado
1/2 cup evaporated milk
sugar, according to desired sweetness
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Cut avocado in half, remove stone and scrape flesh off the peel.
2. Place avocado in a food processor then add evaporated milk and sugar.
3. Process until smooth then transfer to a bowl and set aside.
4. Whip cream until it forms soft peaks.
5. Gently fold whipped cream into the avocado mixture and transfer to individual serving dish.
6. Refrigerate until well chilled before serving.
7. Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Guacamole with Spring Roll Wrapper Chips

Avocado was on sale yeasterday so I bought a few and decided to make guacamole but then I forgot to buy some chips to go with it. Not to worry...hehehe... I had some spring roll wrapper leftover from when I made lumpia shanghai so I fried those up and made spring roll wrapper chips. These chips are a little more fragile compared to regular chips so I had to use spoon to spoon the guacamole over the chips. The taste as well as the crunchiness is really good. I didn't really add any seasoning to the spring roll chips as they already taste good without any but you can season it with salt and pepper, if desired, once they have been fried.


Making guacamole is quite simple and requires a few ingredients ut it really does pack a punch especially becaused I kicked up the spiciness factor a bit by adding a little bit more chili but feel free to cut down the amount to make it less spicy. Another key to making it less spicy is to discard the seeds as they contain the highest concentration of capsaicin.


Ingredients:

2 ripe avocado, cut in half and stone removed
1-2 shallots, chopped finely
1 roma tomato, cored and deseeded then chopped finely
4 Thai chillies, cored and deseeded then chopped finely
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
small cilantro bunch, chopped

1. Using a spoon, remove the flesh of the avaocado from its peel then mashed coarsely using a fork.
2. Add shallots, tomato, cilantro, lime juice, and peppers. Mix well.
3. Season with salt and pepper according to taste.
4. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with chips



Spring roll chips

Ingredients:
5 spring roll wrappers
oil for frying

1. Using a scissor, cut spring roll into 4 equal squares.
2. Then cut the squares into 2 equal triangles.
3. Again cut each of the triangles into two equal smaller triangles. Each spring roll wrapper should make about 16 small triangles.
5. Leave the spring roll wrappers out for about 15 minutes to help dry it out a little bit.
6. To fry: Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
7. When oil is hot enough, fry a few pieces of the spring roll triangles until golden in color. This will only take about 2-3 seconds so you need to keep an eye on it to prevent it from burning.
8. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to absorb excess oil.