Obsessed with Avocados and Rick Bayless!

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This post brought to you by Avocados from Mexico. All opinions are 100% mine.

I feel like you and I know each other pretty well. I mean, this blog is totally build around desserts, so clearly the sweet things in life are a passion of mine. Butter, sugar, and chocolate chips are staples in the Swank pantry. And I don't think I could get through a week without throwing peanut butter cups into something or other. I definitely can't get through a day without a bit of chocolate! But you already knew all that.

However, something you may not have known about me is that I have an absolute obsession with avocados. As in… I can easily eat an avocado for each meal. Not with each meal. But actually for each meal. That's how much I love them.

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Fortunately, it turns out that you actually can eat avocados for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the help of some really amazing Rick Bayless recipes with Avocados From Mexico! He's even come up with some fabulous Avocado dessert recipes! Here are a couple that look especially mouth-watering to me…

Grilled Corn and Poblano Guacamole

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Ingredients:

  • 2 small ears fresh corn, shucked
  • 1 small poblano chile
  • 8 ounces tomatillos, husked (about 4 large)
  • 3 avocados from Mexico, halved, pitted, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion, rinsed
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat gas grill to medium or prepare a charcoal grill. Grill corn, turning occasionally, until golden on all sides, about 5 minutes.
  2. When cool enough to handle, cut kernels from the cob; remove to a large bowl.
  3. Grill the chile and tomatillos, turning until skins are nicely charred, about 10 minutes.
  4. When cool enough to handle, peel the charred skin from the peppers with your fingers. Remove stem, core and seeds; chop chile and remove to the bowl.
  5. Finely chop tomatillos, capturing juices, and add to the bowl.
  6. Add avocado, onion, cilantro and salt. Coarsely mash avocado; gently stir to combine all ingredients.

 

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Avocado and Apricot Salsa

recipe and photo shared with permission courtesy of avocadosfrommexico.com, recipe from Rick Bayless Ingredients:

  • 3 large pork tenderloins (about 2-1/4 pounds total)
  • 1 jar (16-ounces) Frontera Roasted Tomato Salsa or 2 cups Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (recipe follows)
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 medium-large red onion, cut into 1/3-inch thick slices
  • 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots, tossed with a little hot water to soften
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped lemon zest
  • 1 firm-ripe avocado from Mexico, halved, pitted, peeled and diced
  • Salt to taste

For the Roasted Tomatillo Salsa:

  • 1 pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed
  • 4 to 5 serrano chiles, stemmed
  • 1 small white onion, sliced 1/4-inch thick (about 4 ounces)
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, loosely packed
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar, optional

Directions:

  1. Trim fat and whitish “silverskin” from pork tenderloins. Cut each in half, making six 6-ounce portions. Mix together 1 cup of the salsa with the Worcestershire and vinegar. Place the pork in a large dish, smear all sides with salsa mixture, cover and refrigerate for several hours or as long as overnight.
  2. Preheat a gas grill to medium or light a charcoal fire and let burn until charcoal is covered with a thin layer of gray ash. Use tongs to arrange the pork in the center of the grill; reserve the marinade.
  3. Lay the onion slices on the cooler section of the grill. Cover and cook until the pork is nicely browned underneath and onions are softening, about 10 minutes. Turn pork and onions over. Baste pork and onions liberally with reserved marinade. Re-cover the grill and cook until the pork feels nearly firm* when touched or reads 150° on a meat thermometer, about 5 minutes more.
  4. Remove pork to cutting board and tent with foil. Chop the onion slices and remove to a bowl. Add remaining salsa, apricots, parsley, lemon zest and avocado; season with salt and stir gently. To serve, thinly slice pork and generously spoon salsa over slices.

* To learn to test the doneness of pork by touching, fold your thumb into the center of your palm, then wrap your fingers around your thumb, grasping it firmly. With the forefinger of your other hand, press lightly and repeatedly on that bulging nugget of muscle on the back of your hand at the base of your thumb. When you clench your fist with as much strength as you can muster, that little bit of muscle will become very firm, feeling like overcooked pork. Relax a little bit (but keeping the first clenched) and you’ll feel what deliciously cooked pork should feel like. Relax your fist completely while keeping it in the same position and you’ll feel what raw pork feels like. Roasted Tomatillo Salsa:

  1. Heat broiler. On a foil-lined baking sheet, lay tomatillos and chiles. Set sheet 4 inches below broiler; roast until tomatillos are soft and black in spots, about 5 minutes. Turn tomatillos and chiles; roast 5 more minutes; set aside to cool.
  2. Set oven to 425⁰F. Separate onion into rings. On a baking sheet, combine onion rings with garlic. Bake, stirring frequently, until onions are roasted and garlic feels soft and brown in spots, about 15 minutes. Cool.
  3. In a food processor, pulse the chiles, onions and garlic until finely chopped; remove to a large bowl. To food processor, add tomatillos; coarsely puree; add to bowl. Stir in water, cilantro and salt. Add sugar to soften the tartness of the tomatillos, if desired.
  4. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 5 days. Yield: about 2 cups

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