Avocados are great. They are also usually rather expensive, but occasionally you come across them really cheap - usually because they are ripe. Be prepared! Get to know a few recipes and then you will be ready to make all sorts of yummy things when you come home with 6 kilos that you bought for a knock down price.
1 avocado
1 aubergine
1 small cucumber
2 tomatoes
2 tsps. lemon juice
A few sprigs of fresh dill, finely chopped
Salt
1 large pinch of red pepper
Olive oil for frying
Quarter the aubergine lengthways and cut the pieces into 1 cm thick slices. Fry in a little olive oil at a fairly high temperature for a few minutes (until the pieces soften and begin to brown). Dump them out on to a plate and leave to cool while you prepare the other veg.
How to peel an avocado - slice through the skin from end to end. Do this all round the fruit making the cuts about 2 cm apart. Now you can peel the skin off in strips if your avocado is ripe enough. If it isn't you shouldn't be using it. Ripe avocados should feel softish when you press the skin. When you've peeled it, cut into the stone lengthways and continue the cut all round. You should be able to twist one of the halves free and then prise the stone out of the other. This is all easy enough but the whole process can be a bit messy.
Cut the avocado halves into quarters and then slices. Dice the cucumber and tomatoes. Peel the cucumber if you wish - I usually do, otherwise the taste comes back hours after eating it.
The aubergine will be cool enough now so chuck everything into a salad bowl and season with the dill, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir the ingredients gently so that the avocado doesn't get all smashed up. It's ready to eat.
To make this salad more substantial, you could throw in a handful of croutons.