Wednesday 14 September 2011

grilled avocado w melted cheese & hot sauce



Snacks are wonderful. Even better when they’re quick and easy to make.

This is my lazy fall back dinner. It’s made from four ingredients and couldn’t be easier to throw together.

Assemble, grill, eat.

After a long day at work, when all you want to do is crash on the sofa and watch TV, this is the kind of comfort food I turn to: quick and delicious.


Grilled Avocado w Melted Cheese & Hot Sauce

Anna's very own recipe. Serves 1 as a snack.

Ingredients:
1 avocado
1 tablespoon chipotle sauce (Tabasco or Louisiana)
1 tablespoon lime juice
¼ cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Slice the avocado in half and remove the stone. Prick all over with a fork, or cut criss-cross patterns with a knife. This allows the sauce to penetrate the flesh.

2. Pour the sauce over each half, then top with lime juice and salt and pepper.

3. In the cavity where the stone has been, put a fourth of the cheese on each avocado half. Place under the hot grill for 2 minutes.

4. Top with remaining cheese and grill (broil for Americans!) for another 2 minutes until completely melted and avocado warmed through.

Eat hot with a wedge of lime and chipotle sauce on the side!


Avocadoes are wonderful fruits, which is why I've chosen them as my theme ingredient for WHB in 2007 (cold avocado soup from the Ivory Coast), 2008 (avocado shake from Vietnam) and 2009 (prawn salad from Mexico).

The word avocado comes from the Aztec (Nahuatl) word ahuacatl, via Spanish aguacate and means “testicle”. Perhaps because of its appearance, the Aztecs believed avocadoes were an aphrodisiac and called it "the fertility fruit". Apparently during avocado harvesting, virgins were kept indoors to prevent any promiscuity taking place.

This reputation stuck with the avocado for such a long time and many people in South America wouldn’t eat it because they wanted to appear wholesome. Companies had to undertake serious PR campaigns to dispel the myths and get the fruit out to the public.

The Nahuatl word ahuacatl makes up other words like ahuacamolli, meaning "avocado soup/sauce” which the Spanish transformed into guacamole.

Propagation by seed takes around 5 years to produce fruit and the quality is never as good as the parent tree. Commercial plantations therefore graft new seedlings.

Avocadoes mature on the tree but ripen once harvested. The fruit is high monounsaturated fat contents and contains 60% more potassium than bananas, vitamin Bs, vitamin E, vitamin K and folate.

It is also interesting to note that avocado foliage, skin and pits are said to poison animals such as birds, cats, dogs, cattle, goats, rabbits and fish.

Good for us, bad for Fido.

This WHB is hosted by Graziana from Erbe in Cucina (Cooking with Herbs).


88 comments:

  1. I've never thought of grilling avocado but wouldn't mind giving it a go.

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  2. Ooh I like the sound of this! Anything with melted cheese and hot sauce has got to be a winner :)

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  3. Hi Anna - this looks delicious.

    I'm following your blog from my Greek island. Lots of interesting things to try - but not here, there's not much available.

    Hope all goes well and that you're not working too hard.

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  4. Wow - unusual snack! Used as a dip, perhaps? A friend of mine used to eat avocadoes with Fanta!

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  5. lateral - warm avocado on toasted sandwiches works so why not a grilled avocado snack? that's how this love affair started . . .

    lorraine - totally agree. cheese + hot sauce = winning combo

    joan - hello there! hope you're enjoying the sunshine and having a wonderful nostalgic time. i'm sure the seafood in hydra is wonderful.

    tina - could be a dip i suppose, but i prefer the avocado halves as chunks

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  6. I love the redesign... and I LOVE the look of these avocados! I've never thought of eating them hot before...

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  7. Hola Anna! Just having this now... had a few extra avocados and just felt like this! sooo good!!! Tessa x

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  8. emiglia - thanks for the compliments on the blog redesign :)

    tessa - glad you liked the recipe. it's nice to hear from you and keep in touch through cooking :)

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  9. Curious How are you grilling these?

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    1. under the oven grill (heat source coming from above).
      if you're american you'd call it "broiling".

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  10. Trying this for lunch today! Thanks for including the translation for us Americans ;)

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  11. Quick dinner tonight; this with a salad. Delicious! Thanks.

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  12. It was delectable and I felt good eating it. I added a little homemade mango salsa on top instead of the hot sauce. It gave the flavor without being too hot.

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  13. You call the seed a "stone"?

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    Replies
    1. yes indeed. like cherries and other stone fruit. i guess it seems similar.

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  14. I live in an avocado grove in Southern California...i know i'm lucky. This recipe looks delicious and I'm going to try it tomorrow!!!

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    Replies
    1. Why would you broil for Americans? We're the ones that grill...

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    2. australian english grill = american english broil
      australian english barbeque = american english grill

      and trust me, aussies bbq as much as americans grill

      just because we speak the same language, doesn't mean we always understand each other :)

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  15. going to try sounds healthy and awesome!:)

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  16. i just had my wisdom teeth pulled and have been looking for something soft & yummy i can eat when i came across this little wonder on Pinterest!! this is an amazing idea and I will be making it tomorrow. thanks for posting!

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    Replies
    1. ouch! i've had 4 teeth out and i know the feeling.
      hope you like it.

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  17. Can I bake it? If so how long and what temperature? Thank you :)

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    1. sure, you could bake it if you wanted.

      i would put the avocadoes in a preheated oven (180'C/350'F) a little earlier to warm them up, then after 5 minutes add the lime, hot sauce and cheese. maybe another 5 minutes or so, until you see the cheese melted.

      good luck!

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  18. I used hot pepper flakes since I didn't have any hot sauce.. It was yummy! Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. hot pepper flakes would work well. aleppo pepper would be great.

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  19. I made it today and it was sooo delish!!!! I am going to have to make it again tomorrow. Cant wait. Thanks for the recipe.

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  20. Eating this as I type! Saw it this morning on pintrest, and just had to give it a go - and it's delicious! Although I did add a little too much hot sauce for my delicate mouth (honestly, sometimes it's like I don't know myself at all!!!) and I used goats cheese instead of parmesan simply because goats cheese rules my life. Will definitely be making this again :-) x

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    Replies
    1. hi there! pinterest is responsible for most people discovering this recipe :) it's certainly made it my most popular post on my blog.
      i love goats cheese too. will have to try that variation.

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  21. Made this for lunch today, Sooo delicious! Will be definitely eating this quite often, doesn't get much better!

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  22. Made this today for lunch- LOVE IT!!!

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  23. can you use just a basic salsa instead of hot sauce, my husband cannot eat hot sauce but he just loves avacado and thought this might be a tasty treat

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    Replies
    1. Anon, you can use whatever you like on it. It's easy to switch the topping to an Italian napoli sauce or maybe even a Chinese style topping

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  24. I just fixed this as an appetizer. It is wonderful! Didn't change the recipe at all.

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  25. Can you use lemon instead of lime? Just curious and thats whats in the fridge,lol

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  26. Sounds Yummy I have been looking for a recipe for avocados thanks so much for posting gonna try it asap

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  27. I place the 1/4 c parm. and grilled. But then it states put the "remaining" on? Is this an additional 1/4c of parm.?

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    Replies
    1. It's 1/4 cup in total, and you place a fourth of that 1/4 cup on first, then use the remaining.

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  28. I had class until late and this was the perfect after school food, so delicious!

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  29. Tried it with sharp cheddar, delicious!

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  30. I found your avocado snack idea pinned onto a Pinterest board. Finally, last night I had the chance to try it. Who knew that something so simple could taste so great! Thanks for posting it...

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    Replies
    1. no worries! i'm so pleased so many people have enjoyed it. it's by far the most popular of my recipes.

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  31. Thank you for this amazing recipe. It has become my favorite snack. I blogged about it here: http://www.1plus1equals9.com/recipe-broiled-avocado-with-melted-cheese/

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  32. I just broiled it and it is so delicious. Glad I came across it in Pinterest. I will share this recipe with my daughter since she is one who got me to try avacados to begin with.

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    Replies
    1. glad you liked it. pinterest has brought so many people to this recipe!

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  33. How many carbs are we talking?I eat only low-carb

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    1. sorry, no idea. you'll have to do some googling i'm afraid.
      i'm a home cook not a nutritionist.

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  34. These are DELISH! :-) Thanks so much for posting!!!

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  35. Tried it for dinner and loved it! I've never broiled them before but I foresee many possibilities....Will be sharing this one! Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. really glad you liked the recipe. let me know what variations you come up with.

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  36. Hi Anna...

    Just tried this yesterday and it was delicious! I wrote about it on my blog today, linking to you of course! You can check it out here:

    http://cobwebscupcakesandcrayons.com/2013/02/22/grilled-avocado-with-melted-cheese-and-hot-sauce/

    Thanks for the great recipe!!

    Kelly (Cobwebs, Cupcakes & Crayons)

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  37. Waiting for my avocados to ripen...it's killing me!

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  38. I love avocadoes but have never thought of using them like this... definitely going to try :-)

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  39. This was a great little lunch. I just happened to see the picture on pinterest and then just happened to have all of the ingredients. I used Sriracha hot sauce and it was really yummy. Thanks.

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  40. When you say "Prick all over with a fork, or cut criss-cross patterns with a knife. This allows the sauce to penetrate the flesh. Pour the sauce over each half, then top with lime juice and salt and pepper." which sauce are you referring to?

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  41. Absolutely Fabulous !! Will be making this again ... and again ... I replaced the hot sauce with Roasted Garlic & Chili Aioli and cut out the salt. Quick, Easy and Delicious !!

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  42. Delicious, but does anyone know why my parmesan was glued into one big clump? Did I leave it under the broiler too long? Or not long enough? BTW I used siracha for the hot sauce and it was great!

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    Replies
    1. maybe you didn't spread it out enough or perhaps you were being decadent and used too much? that happens :)

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  43. A local taco shop makes a "fried avocado" taco, which I found to be delicious! I can't wait to try this yummy sounding recipe!

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  44. Broiled avocado is amazing. I found this version on Pinterest and of course I repinned it!

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    1. thanks! i was shocked to discover how many times this was repinned :)

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  45. Just finished this for dinner. Wow!. I would never have thought of having hot avocado, but this was really a winner. I have another avocado in the fridge and can't wait to make it again!

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    1. when i posted this i thought it was a bit of a silly recipe but it turns out people love it as much as me!

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  46. But how do u grill? Like in a gas grill? Which side up? On high or low? HELP

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    Replies
    1. if you're American then "broil" is probably the word you're looking for.

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  47. This makes me angry! This is not a recipe.... its just cheese melted on an avocado....

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    1. anon, your lame comment makes me angry.
      i'm just a home cook sharing my discoveries and never pretended i'm a chef or this was brain surgery.

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  48. Just made this with lemon and some cheddar cheese. Very good!. Thanks for recipe!

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