Cool Tip: The Incredible Avocado and Healthier Tuna Salad

We’ve all heard about the benefits of Avocados: both from the producers and from our friends and healthcare providers.

First, note that avocados are a fruit, so they count in the “fruits and vegetables” quotient of your daily diet analysis. Most importantly, they’re incredibly nutritious, loaded with over 20 vitamins and minerals, including more potassium than bananas. They’re also loaded with “good fat”: the monounsaturated fatty acids, aka oleic acid, also found in olive oil. They’re also loaded with fiber and antioxidants. Avocados have been shown to reduce total cholesterol, especially LDL, and increase HDL - the so-called “good” cholesterol - and triglycerides. And they can stabilize your blood sugar levels. All of these features and effects have been reported to deliver benefits in the areas of heart disease, arthritis, cancer, diabetes and eye health. And, as an added bonus, they're delicious. So what’s not to like about avocados?

Store your avocados at room temperature until they’re dark purple or almost black, and gently soft … then refrigerate or use within a week or so. To use, cut off the stem end - about ¼”/.6cm - and cut along the poles all the way around the avocado … then gently twist each half until they release from each other. The pit will remain in one half … Take a medium-sized steel knife - 6”/15cm or more - and firmly hit the middle of the blade into the pit … and twist firmly until the pit releases, while remaining on your blade. Carefully remove the pit from your blade and proceed to enjoy!

Often we will simply sprinkle sea-salt and eat with a small spoon. Other times, we will slice with the Avocado Slicer and enjoy the slices on a salad, a taco, or any sandwich. And of course, the traditional way to enjoy avocado is in Guacamole, made with Salsa Fresca.

But the best new revelation has been to substitute Avocado as the “fat” element in Tuna Salad: use Avocado instead of mayonnaise! We call it Guacatuna: it’s healthy and delicious, and we love it!

Enjoy!