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It’s AvocaDO, Not AvocaDON’T! Today’s posts are all about protein (and, as always, tastiness!). Everyone keeps hearing about how important protein is when it comes to building lean muscle and staying healthy so our timing is perfect, in our minds. We all know what’s coming Thursday (Thanksgiving), so in anticipation of all those carbs, here are two recipes that include no guilt and give up nothing when it comes to flavor and satisfaction!

The first is our Avocado, Bacon, Egg & Cheese Breakfast and the second is our Chicken Avocado Salad. The Stuffed Breakfast Avocado should be served right out of the oven, while the Chicken Avocado Salad can be made ahead of time and served as a side dish or entrée. Both are best when using firm avocados. Enjoy!

Avocado Chicken Salad

Avocado Chicken Salad

This Avocado dish is really easy to prepare and assemble and offers a refreshing take on chicken salad.

Ingredients:

2 Large chicken breasts; shredded or chopped
- We use the grocery store/Costco rotisserie chicken, makes for quick prep.
3 Medium avocados; cubed.
1 Cup roasted corn
5 Strips of cooked bacon; chopped
1/4 Cup green onions; chopped
2 Tbsp. dill
2 Hardboiled eggs; quartered or sliced
3Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper

Preparation & Assembly:

Salad –
- Dice or shred the 2 large chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and put into large mixing bowl.
- Halve the avocados and remove the pits. I like to slice/cube them in the half shells and scoop them out with a serving spoon – Less mess and the avocados start to break down and get mussy. Scoop them out of the shells, gently separate the pieces for consistent distribution.
- Add 1 cup of roasted corn, 1/4 cup of green onions and chopped bacon, and 2 Tbsp. of dill.
Dressing –
- Add all dressing ingredients (lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper) in a small bowl or measuring cup and whisk to combine.
Mix It Up – Drizzle dressing over the salad and gently toss to combine, making sure all ingredients are thoroughly covered.
- Top with the sliced hard boiled eggs and serve. You thought we forgot the eggs, save them until last as they tend to break down a little if mixed in with others ingredients.

Avocado, Bacon, Egg & Cheese Breakfast

This breakfast dish is tasty and even easier to make with only 4 ingredients – So few that the picture is a little boring!

Ingredients:

Avocado
2 Eggs
1 Strip of cooked bacon; chopped or crumbled
1 Tbsp. Parmigiano Reggiano cheese or other low fat cheese.

Preparation:

Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit.
Scoop out some of the avocado with a spoon so that the cavity is bigger than the egg and yolk.
- Place the avocado halves in a muffin pan, it keeps them from tipping while filling and cooking.
Crack the eggs into the avocado halves,, sprinkle with cheese and top with the bacon.
Bake for 12-14 minutes. Serve them immediately.

Go try these dishes, they are both relatively easy, you can AvocaDO It!

A few years back I was traveling for business and stopped in Houston on my way home to spend a couple of days with my brother John and sister-in-law Janet. On our way out for a round of golf we stopped at a local barbeque place for lunch. As we were leaving a truck had pulled up selling fresh (raw)cracked and blown pecans – We ate close to 2lbs. that afternoon while golfing.

I started making these Sweet, Savory, Spicy Pecans last year. John had sent each of us (my brothers and sisters) a large bag of cracked and blown fresh pecans as a gift. I thought to myself, what the heck am I going to do with all of these pecans? So, like I do with most things, I googled ‘pecan recipes’ and up popped a ton of options. There were multiple recipes for sweet, sugar coated, candied, etc. to chose from. One caught my eye ‘Sweet, Spicy, Salty Candied Pecans (AKA “Crack Nuts”).’ It was a post on Once Upon a Chef – from Jenn Segal. The recipe sounded great and looked pretty easy so I gave it a shot. I will say that the name Crack Nuts is fitting as you will quickly become addicted to them. So, here we go…

Note: I was tempted to riddle this post with a few tasteful nut jokes and puns, but I thought better of it. OK, really Leigh told me to grow up.

Sweet, Savory, SpicyPecans
Servings: Makes 2 cups
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups pecans

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Parchment paper is the key to easy handling and quick clean up Did I mention I hate the clean up part of cooking?

In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, kosher salt and cayenne pepper.

Add the pecans to the sugar mixture, along with 4 teaspoons of water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved into a sticky glaze. (If the mixture is still too powdery after stirring for a while, it’s okay to add a few drops of water — just don’t add too much!)

All Mixed Up, Hot Sweet and Sticky (Rock Candy, Montrose ’73)

Transfer the pecans to the prepared baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Do your best to make sure they are evenly spread out and the nuts are not touching each other. Scrape out every last bit of glaze from the bowl and drizzle over the nuts.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the pecans are crusty on top and caramelized and golden on the bottom. I find that 11 minutes works best and gives them a good crunch without burning them. Immediately slide the parchment off of the hot baking sheet and allow the pecans to cool completely on the countertop. Once cool, remove the pecans from the parchment, breaking apart any clusters if necessary, and store in an airtight container.

Dig in! Stop eating them if you can!

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It’s AvocaDO, Not AvocaDON’T!

Sweet, Savory and Spicy Pecans!