Chicken avocado sammiches

My band Mollusk played our first official show on Saturday. Still completely unprepared the day of, Marc (ukulele) came over before the show for lunch and to rehearse a bit. I decided to make some sammiches. I've never seen avocados with such a colour gradient, from dark green to bright yellow. Are these regular Hass avocados?

Whatever they are, they were perfectly ripe, delicious and very creamy. I sliced them up and put them on a slice of flax seed bread with some grilled chicken breast and parmesan. 

Grilled, these had a crisp exterior with a creamy mouth feel inside. I like replacing mayonnaise with healthy avocado for this reason. The parmesan added a touch of saltiness and great flavour to go with the chicken. I still contend my butcher has the best chicken out there. It has an extra chicken flavour that you just don't find in the cuts at supermarkets. I'll be happy to eat your favourite chicken if you disagree.

The only thing that would make this sammich better is pesto. Really gotta make some more of that. Mayhaps cilantro pesto this time.

Avocado Egg & Salad with Braid Roll

Salad:
Spinach
Arugula
1 Tomato
1/2 Avocado

1/2 Avocado
1 Egg
salt and pepper

Dressing:
1 teaspoon of pesto (see earlier post)
1 teaspoon of cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
salt and pepper 

Preheat oven to 350F. Halve avocado unevenly. Crack an egg into large half of the avocado, put in oven until egg is cooked, about 15 minutes (broil for colour if desired). Cube rest of avocado and toss with greens in pesto dressing. Wedge the tomatoes and put on top. Eat salad, spread avocado egg thing on braid roll, enjoy.

Pretty good and healthy lunch. I'm not sure I'll do the egg avocado thing again. It wasn't bad, but I prefer avocado raw.

Guacamole

After yesterday's sammiches, I had some avocado leftovers that were perfectly ripe. What could I do but make guacamole? There are way too many bad avocados around these days. I have stopped buying them from big box grocery stores because they are small, usually brutally bruised, and they don't taste right. I buy from a nearby independent grocer who stocks the best tasting avocados I've ever had. They are rich, creamy, and when perfectly ripe, deeply flavourful with a just giving texture. I'm assuming they are still Hass varietals, but I'm not entirely sure. In any case, these were picture perfect; I really should have taken one.

1.5 ripe avocados
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
chopped cilantro
2 tsp lemon juice
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1 inside clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper

Remove avocado flesh from skin into a bowl and break it up with a fork until lumpy. Add other ingredients and mix up, stirring well until avocado becomes smoother. I like it with small lumps in it. Be careful not to add too much garlic as it will take over. A little goes a really long way here, especially the next day.

Ladypants and I ate this atop Marc's homemade rye crackers and they were delicious! The creaminess of the avocado with the spiciness of the pepper zinging through it, the freshness of the cilantro and tomato, and the sharpness of the fresh garlic combined to make something remarkable. This would only be half as good without that quality giant Mexican berry. A lot of recipes I've seen call for a lot more lemon juice, but I think that is just to compensate for poor quality ingredients. To some degree the higher acidity covers up the delicate flavour of the alligator pear. If it isn't there to start with, it probably helps. Avocado FTW!

Grilled coffee chicken & avocado sammiches

One of the best things about making grilled chicken for dinner is the delicious sammiches for lunch the next day.

4 slices bread, flax seed
1 chicken quarter, off the bone
onions from under chicken, see last post
half an avocado, sliced
salt & pepper
cilantro
habanero hot sauce, optional

Preheat george foreman grill or panini press. Place toppings in order listed on top of bread and top with another.

 Press somewhat firmly. Place sammiches on grill until outside is toasty and inside is warmed through. Serve, eat, & enjoy.

The bread is super crispy, and inside you get all those great flavours. The roasted chicken, the perfectly ripe creamy avocado, a bit of sweetness from the onions, and a refreshing burst of cilantro to lighten it all up. The spicy pepper flavour of the hot sauce was ok, but didn't add much.

Some people like to butter the outside of grilled sammiches like this, but I find it too greasy for my taste. Cheese always works well, but it isn't necessary. I also have no problem calling them sammiches even though it gives me a squiggly red line underneath as I type the word. It does that for Canadian flavours too but not American flavors. I've become used to it.