One of my new absolute favorite snacks is avocado with bread, a snack my West African significant other eats always. Although he generally eats it simply as avocado smeared in a baguette as a sandwich (also delicious), I've dressed it up with a little coarse sea salt, red pepper flakes and dollop it on to toasted country bread. Love love love. But not everyone's accustomed to buying avocados. So, here are a couple tips.

Avocado Tips

     Avocados are ripe when soft but not mushy, much like picking out stone fruit

     To ripen, leave out on your kitchen counter or keep in the refrigerator to preserve

     To cut, use a sharp knife to cut an "equator" long-wise along the fruit; twist along the cut line

     To remove the seed, carefully hack the knife into the seed with one clean sweep, twisting out the seed attached to the knife

     Spoon out each side or hatch dice lines into the half to cube

Avocados are a source of healthy, natural fat which makes them the perfect thing to reach for if you want to help curve that fat craving with a filling guilt-free snack.