avocado cup salads, two ways
I have the most boring thing, ever, to tell you today (and clearly it’s not “how to write an enticing lede”): I tried not to eat bread for a couple months. Wait, come back! Let me explain. I don’t mean . I am not anti-carb or anti-dessert, nor is Wheat Belly our new idea of a good bedtime story; I am ever your gluten- host. I remain certain that freshly-baked, crackly-crusted artisanal bread is one of the greatest things in the world; to turn it down a moderate serving of it when you’re able to enjoy it (chemically and all that) is a sacrilege. But that’s not really what most of our bread looks like, does it? Most often, bread is merely bookends on a sandwich, with the goal of making filling portable. Or, it’s toasted so that it can sop up butter, jam or a runny yolk, or crouton-ed to make a salad feel bulkier. It’s all too infrequently in and of itself noteworthy. These latter categories of bread were what I suspected I wouldn’t miss if when I challenged myself to skip them. That is, at least two meals a day: an ascetic, I am not.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 16 of 18 ingredients — the other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 16 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Avocado | 1 medium (150g) | 240 |
| Sesame | 1 tbsp (14g) | 120 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Black Bean | 1/2 cup canned (120g) drained | 114 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Miso | 1 tbsp (18g) | 34 |
| Bell Pepper | 1 medium (119g) | 31 |
| Cucumber | 1/2 cup sliced (52g) | 16 |
| Lime | juice of 1 lime (44ml) | 11 |
| Chili | 1 tsp (2.7g) | 8 |
| Cumin | 1 tsp ground (2.1g) | 8 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Cilantro | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Seed | not in our table | 0 |
| Black Sesame Seed | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 1 cup black beans, cooked, drained (about 2/3 of a 15-ounce can)
- 1 large bell pepper, finely diced (I used a mix of colors because we keep them around for the kid)
- 1/4 cup finely diced white or red onion
- 1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 1 lime)
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Dashes of hot sauce or pinches of cayenne, to taste
- Chopped cilantro for garnish
- 4 ripe avocados
- 1 cup finely diced cucumber (from about half a long English or 2 small Persian cukes), seeds removed
- 1 cup finely diced radishes (from about 4 large red ones)
- 2 scallions, finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons white miso (shiromiso, which is more mild/less salty)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated or minced fresh ginger root (or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds, toasted
- 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
- 4 ripe avocados