AA (or Avocado Appetizer)

Aaaaaaaaaavocado appetizer - an actually a-complicated and astonishingly appetizing antipasto!  

Yet another simple and healthy dish.  Avocados are a great source of healthy fats (actually reducing bad cholesterol), they are high in fiber contents and packed with vitamins.  But they are also very delicious!  Their creamy, smooth texture makes a great base for various salads and salsas.  They go so well with a whole bunch of different ingredients, which leaves the door open for you to experiment and try to pair them with all sorts of things.  This very recipe is the product of a quick experiment - based on what I thought would go well with avocado and.... what I had in the fridge at that time.

This appetizer has a great combination of different tastes and textures.  You have the smooth and rich avocado, tangy-sweet apple, crunchy shallots and peppers, and nutty roasted pine nuts.  The freshness of the lemon gives it an extra twist, and thick Greek yoghurt combines all the ingredients into one delicious salad.  Avocado really is a great canvas/background that brings out the crunchy, tangy and sweet components.  Yet again, without them, it would be bland and too rich.  With them, it's elevated to the super fruit status it fully deserves.

This appetizer can be served on its own or with a slice of good bread.  Double the portion (two halves per person) and you have a healthy, nutritious and filling lunch.  You could also serve it as a simple salad - a side dish to a main course.   

Makes 4 appetizers

Ingredients:

• 2 ready to eat avocados
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 small crisp, tangy-sweet apple (e.g. pink lady)
• 2 shallots (a big red onion would also work)
• a big handful of pine nuts (approx. 70-80g)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons of very thick greek yoghurt (or mayonnaise if you prefer the taste - but this makes the recipe a bit less healthy ;-) )
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

• Toast the pine nuts in a very hot dry pan until golden brown (watch out not to burn them!).  Set aside to cool.
• Slice the avocados in half, get rid of the stones.  Gently remove the flesh, leaving the shells intact (this can be very easily done with a tablespoon).  Set the shells aside - they will serve as bowls.  Gently dice the avocado (in rather large pieces), put in a bowl and immediately generously sprinkle with lemon juice (this will prevent the avocado from going brown).
• Dice the shallots (finely), pepper and apple and add to the avocado.  Sprinkle some more lemon juice over the apple (otherwise it will also go brown).  Add the pine nuts, yoghurt and season well with salt and pepper.  Stir gently (e.g. using two forks) not to mash the avocado.
• Serve inside the avocado shells, garnished with basil.

Bon appetit!

Glazed salmon with avocado-strawberry salsa

Allegedly, Eskimos have a lot of words for snow.  (I don't know if it's true, but it seems like a nice anecdote, so why not believe it and use at parties as a conversation starter.)  I imagine they distinguish between still falling and already fallen snow -- between virgin white & crisp and dirty slush -- between big majestic snowflakes dancing gracefully in the air and the small waterred-down ones dropping in a big rush. 

Similarly, North-Western Europeans should come up with a pretty impressive vocabulary on the types of rain.  After all, they have plenty of empirical evidence to go on.  Whole year long.

Instead of trying to list the fifty shades of grey the sky has had this week, I opted for a different way of coping with the gloomy weather.  Color on my plate!  And nothing adds color better than fresh fruit.

Before & after (FYI: these are avocados, not dragon eggs)

I decided to go for some strawberries, which always remind me of early summer.  I think of warm afternoons I spent at my grandparents' summer house as a kid.  Hiking in the forest or sunbathing near the lake, the gentle breeze of warm air in your hair, idyllic bird singing in the background, and delicious strawberries freshly picked in the orchard. The strawberries didn't look like much -- irregular in shape and not too big -- but the taste was a million times better than that of the store-bought perfectly shaped specimens.

With such memories at hand, it's easy to block out the rainy reality and create summer on your plate.

Fresh strawberries go very well with avocado.  The salsa is a combination of zingy, sweet & tart with creamy and rich.  Walnuts add the crunch and compliment the nuttiness of the avocado, chili flakes add heat, and the lime juice & walnut oil vinaigrette binds the flavors together.

This fresh salsa goes very well with glazed grilled salmon.  Any sweet glaze will work here (e.g. Teriyaki sauce).  The idea is to get some caramelization on the outer side of the salmon, so it does have to to be sweet.  The marinade I used is salty-sweet and smokey and brings out the best natural flavor of the salmon itself.

So go ahead and bring some color to your plate!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless salmon filets (around 700-800 g)
• 2 ripe avocados
• 5 large strawberries
• handful of walnuts (around 60-70 g), roughly chopped
• juice of 1/2 lime
• handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tsp of chili flakes
• 2 tbsp of walnut oil (can be replaced with olive oil)
• 5 tbsp of soy sauce
• 4 tbsp od muscovado syrup or molasses
• 2 tbsp of fig vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
• 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Directions:

• Whisk together the soy sauce, syrup and vinegars.  Pour over salmon filets and rub into the fish.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes, ideally for 1.5h.
• Once soaked in the marinade, grill the salmon on a grill pan with a little bit of olive oil (a few minutes on each side).
• Peel the avocados and chop in big chunks.  Immediately drizzle with lime juice (half of what you have) -- this will prevent the avocado from turning brown.  Chop the strawberries finely (leaving a few slices for decoration like I did - if you want).  Add to avocado, together with the chopped walnuts and cilantro.
• Whisk walnut oil with remaining lime juice, chili flakes, salt and pepper.  Drizzle over the salsa.  Combine all salsa ingredients very gently, e.g., by using 2 forks -- be careful not to mash the avocado.  Serve with grilled salmon.

Bon appetit!