Avocados are technically a fruit, and they might just be one of the healthiest fruits you can eat! They are rich in healthy fats, high in fiber, and full of vitamins and minerals, including the B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, potassium, and magnesium.
If you're buying an avocado to use for dinner tonight, make sure you choose a ripe one! Find an avocado that is soft enough to press your fingertips into. If it's too firm, it's not ripe. If it's almost mushy, it's too ripe. The perfect avocado can be hard to find in stores, so you might have to buy your avocados in advance and ripen them at home.
How to ripen avocados: put your unripe avocado in a paper bag with an apple or banana (it really works—the gases these fruits emit ripen the avocado faster). It might still take a day or two.
Now that you have your ripe avocado, you need to know how to prepare an avocado. It may seem obvious, but there are some basic tricks that can make it easier and a bit less messy. We like to take a butter knife and cut a circle around the middle of the avocado lengthwise. When you have your two halves, just twist to separate. Next, strike the pit with your blade and twist the knife to release the pit.
Finally, our favorite tip when it comes to preparing an avocado - if you need avocado pieces, make the slices/cubes while it is still in the skin (be careful not to cut through into your hand!). Then use a spoon or fork to scoop the avocado pieces out. If you need mashed avocado, just squeeze the avocado into the bowl directly from the skin. Way less mashing necessary!
Good news: avocados are one of the "clean fifteen", so you don't have to buy them organic if you don't want to spend the extra dough.
Nutrition DNA
The nutrition DNA of one avocado. For example, you can see that 1 avocado covers 54% of your daily need of Fiber and 46% of the recommended Fat intake. Hover over the bars to see which nutrient is covered.
