Kick Up Your Cooking with Guacamole

Made from avocado, guacamole is chock full of health benefits. What many people don’t recognize, however, is that avocado is also rather calorie heavy. Though those calories are packed full of nutritional value, they should be monitored carefully. Guacamole nutrition is high, but so are guacamole calories.

Classic guacamole recipes use avocados, lime juice, onion, tomato, garlic, and spices like salt, cilantro, and sometimes cayenne pepper. All of those ingredients are healthy for you, and really the only ingredient kicking in calories is the avocado. One avocado contains a whopping 322 calories, though it is particularly nutrient dense. Fresh guacamole dips are easy to make, and there are many recipes using guacamole that provide excellent flavor. Because guacamole calories are relatively high, however, it’s important to make sure that the other components of any recipe containing it are not also high in calories. Here are a few suggestions!

Making Guacamole

Guacamole is fairly easy to throw together. The first step is to peel the avocado. Use a sharp knife to slice it horizontally, noting that there is a large pit in the center. You want to cut all the way around the pit so that you can separate the avocado in two without cutting through the pit. Next, twist the two sides in opposite directions and pull them apart. The pit will come with one side and leave a hole in the other. Cut into the pit with your knife and twist it to extricate the pit from the avocado. Then, peel the skin off.

You’ll need about three avocados for four servings of guacamole. Mash them in a bowl with the juice from one lime, a teaspoon or so of salt, a diced onion, some diced tomato, a touch of minced garlic, and a fair amount of cilantro. If you want a spicy guacamole dip, throw in a dash of cayenne pepper. Refrigerate the dip for an hour or so.

Using Guacamole

Remembering guacamole calories as an obstacle, we suggest that you use guacamole on otherwise low calorie foods.

• Mix it up with egg yolks for deviled eggs with some kick.
• Serve it with veggies instead of chips for an appetizer or finger food.
• Use it as a spread on a sandwich with a light fish.
• Serve with black beans and a lime viniagrette for a summer salad.

Because it has so many nutritional benefits, guacamole is a great addition to most meals, as long as your careful about compensating for guacamole calories. Whip up a batch and see what else you can come up with! For more about this, go here: sabra.com