Advocatus Avocado

Avocados are a polarizing ingredient, like cilantro. Either you think it’s the bee’s knees or you think it’s the devil’s hooves. Wednesday’s Foodie Call challenge ingredient was avocado. It’s nice to have over 200 recipes from which to choose (and that’s just my blog right here). I Vitamixed some avobachoco. As my student job supervisor said when I made it in 2012, many customers confirmed that it would be a great baby food. Funny, I forgot that it contained almond butter until I checked the recipe just now.

I don’t make this shit up, though: avocado and banana are a classic combination. The California Avocado Commission says it’s so. They must know. I baked this bread in between mowing the lawn at the Abbey in May. It’s a fairly long-baked quickbread because the avocado makes it so moist. It also has a definite avocado taste, and that I used quinoa flour enhances the non-sweetness of it. So this is not dessert; it is a snack or breakfast or lunch or whatever meal on your five-meal-a-day plan it is (thaaaaat’s me). Or it’s dessert if you don’t like sweet things. See how hard it is to play to people’s preferences?

Avocanana Bread
Modified from the California Avocado Commission, “Avocanana Bread,” http://www.californiaavocado.com/recipe-details/view/26247/avocanana-bread

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (which I think is a must-have in banana bread)

flesh of 2 avocados

2 bananas

1/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond)

1 teaspoon vinegar (I used white wine)

1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9*5*4-inch loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift then whisk together the flours, xanthan gum, leavening, salt, and cinnamon.

In a blender or food processor, blitz together the avocados, bananas, non-dairy milk, vinegar, and agave until no avocado chunks remain.  Add wet to dry and stir well. Fold in the raisins. Transfer to prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes at 350. Crank the oven to 375 and bake for another 15 minutes.  Cool in the pan for 40 minutes and then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Slightly green goodness

Your baking time may be slightly less; I was using a lovely stoneware pan that a friend gifted me and its insulated walls combined with the moist bread made for a longer baking time, I suspect. The original recipe has the baking time at 1:10.

No, the California Avocado Commission didn’t pay me to do this: learn more about avocados!

Also, this month's challenge exercises can be found here: http://nsfitbitch.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ab-challenge.jpg

I am adding a day and 100 squats per day to this challenge since squats are the difference between having a butt and having an ass. So squat already!

Parting Shots:

These guns aren't from bagging. I finished INSANITY last week and purchased my next Beachbody program, Les Mills Combat. While I didn't lose weight, I lost inches, and that's what counts since muscle 1) weighs more than fat, and 2) burns more calories than fat.

I often work in my kitchen without a shirt because it's small and the gas oven runs hot. I'm also often cooking in my exercise clothes (not in this instance), which consist of sports bra and shorts. Cake baking and cleanup prompted this shot.

Salve,

Q