Sign 1: Color

Visual cues can come in handy when trying to determine the ripeness of avocados. The color of avocados is one of the main signs of their level of ripeness. Avocados with dark green or nearly black skin can be eaten right away, while green ones need some more time to ripen.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Best Life Australia (@bestlifeau)

Sign 2: Texture

The texture is another visual cue that can help you determine avocado’s ripeness. It’s common for dark green avocados to have a bumpy texture because they’re perfectly ripe, while the ones with smooth texture usually aren’t ready to be eaten right away.

Sign 3: Firmness

The final step you can take before buying your avocados is to check their firmness. You can do this by gently squeezing the avocado in your hand. Ripe avocados will feel slightly soft when squeezed, but they won’t be too mushy.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Niya (@dothenewofficial)

The post How to Pick Perfectly Ripe Avocados Every Single Time appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Here are some foods that you should eat frequently to help maintain good skin health.

Avocado

Avocados are packed with healthy fats, which are essential for skin health. In addition, they contain vitamins C and E, which work together to give your skin protection from damaging UV rays.

Salmon

Salmon’s key component is omega-3 fatty acids, which help to keep your skin moisturized and your collagen healthy. Salmon and other fatty fishes are fantastic for maintaining healthy skin.

Orange

Oranges have two key components that are great for your skin: vitamin C and beta carotene. Vitamin C and beta carotene work together as a natural “sunscreen” to protect your sun from harmful rays.

Almond

These nuts are full of antioxidants that help to protect your skin cells from free radicals that can damage them. This slows the process of aging and helps to keep your skin looking tight and young.

The post These Foods Help Promote Healthy Skin appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Ingredients

The ingredients you need are:
16 leaves lettuce
4 wheat tortillas
1 avocado
1 red pepper
2 tablespoons reduced-calorie mayonnaise
4 tablespoons salsa
1-240g pack sliced cooked chicken

Instructions

The first step you need to take for successful avocado wraps is to pit the avocado the right way. Cut it in half, and rotate the two halves so that you can separate them. Take out the pit from the middle, making sure that everything else stays intact.

Grab a knife and cut the two halves into slices. Remove the peel in the end and take out the slices.

The next step is to prepare the lettuce and the red pepper. Wash them and cut the pepper into small strips.

Add mayonnaise to the wheat tortillas, top them with the chicken meat. Continue layering the avocado pieces, lettuce, and pepper. Finish off with the salsa.

All you have left is to wrap the tortilla and secure them with a stick. You can feel free to toast it if that’s what you prefer.

The post These Green Avocado Wraps Are Summer’s Easiest Treat appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Despite their simplicity, quesadillas can be modified in countless ways. The simple addition of one or two ingredients inside of your two tortillas can transform a quesadilla from dull to drab! Here are three suggestions for creative additions to your next quesadilla.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are a filling way to put a unique touch on a quesadilla. We love combining mushrooms with simple, creamy cheeses such as mozzarella in mine. They can be canned or fresh–either way, you’re going to love it!

Avocados

Mmm, cheese and creamy avocado. The delectable texture that avocado acquires when it gets warm and is in contact with melty cheese in a quesadilla is an absolute treasure. You can take heart in knowing that it’s authentic too, being popular in Mexican gastronomy!

Pineapple

Hear us out here. You might want to brown your pineapple in a skillet or on a grill before placing it in a quesadilla, but if you combine it with a cheese that isn’t too sharp or aggressive, this combination is actually extremely delicious.

The post Try These Creative Ingredients in Your Next Quesadilla appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Avocado veterans and newcomers alike can sometimes be flummoxed, nonetheless, by the strange shape and giant seed in the middle of this fruit. How should I cut this thing, anyway?

Fear not. Here’s a guide on how to cut your avocados in the easiest way possible.

1. Make a Vertical Cut Around

Start off by taking a sharp knife and cutting a slice vertically around the entire avocado in order to separate it into two pieces. You should now see an exposed seed and fruit.

2. Stick Your Knife into the Seed

Go ahead, don’t be shy! Take the sharp side of your knife and dive it into the woody seed until it sticks with a thud.

3. Remove the Seed

Now, twist your knife inside of the seed and pull out. The tricky avocado seed will come right out, and you can now discard of it!

4. Make Slices Inside of the Peel

Finally, it’s important to know that it’s way easier to cut an avocado inside of its peel than it is to peel first. Cut your desired slices or chunks and then scoop out with a spoon. It’s that simple!

The post Are You Cutting Your Avocados the Right Way? appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Their nutritional content and delicious taste make them a highly desirable food for lots of people. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to choose avocados to eat.

These three tips will help you become an expert in picking the perfect avocado.

Look at the Color

An avocado which is ripe and ready to eat will almost never be green. Instead, look for avocados that are closer to black with small bits of green if you want a ripe avocado. If it’s completely black, it’s too ripe and might be spoiled. Buy them closer to green if you’re planning to eat them later.

Observe the Skin

Avocados that are ready to eat generally do not have smooth skin. Instead, their skin will be slightly rough and pebbled. Be sure that the avocado doesn’t have any noticeable bruising, too.

Squeeze the Avocado

One of the most important tips for finding a good avocado is to observe how it feels. Avocados that are ripe will give slightly to touch and not be completely hard. It’s also important that avocados aren’t too mushy, which means that they could be overripe.

The post These Tips Will Help You Pick the Perfect Avocado appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

While that’s true, stuffing them only makes the experience that much better—so why not do it? The following recipes are simple, healthy, and so delicious, you may never eat anything else again.

The Year Of Pulses

The United Nations labeled 2016 as the year of pulses. Pulses are food items that grow in pods, like lentils, peas, and beans. Let’s continue the celebration in 2017 with chickpea stuffed avocados.

Mixing together chickpeas, tamari, and grated carrot gives you a vibrant, refreshing salad that complements the buttery avocado texture oh so nicely.

Chickpeas out of a can are perfectly acceptable, but if you want to get the maximum health benefit from these tasty pulses, then look for the sprouted variety. If you’re really adventurous, you can sprout them yourself—but that’s a story for another day.

Who Needs Tacos When You Have This?

We can all agree that tacos are the culinary gift of the gods, but what if we cut out the middleman and ditched the tortilla altogether? By stuffing your avocados with black beans and chicken and topping them with cheese, onions and hot sauce, you get all the best parts of tacos in one bite.

For those looking to shed some pounds, ditching that tortilla is a great way to lose some extra calories. Taco purists may hate the sound of this but give it a try and see for yourself just how delicious this is.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeaxQatnOVp/?tagged=stuffedavocado

When Healthy Fats Collide

If you’re caught up on your nutritional trends, then you know that salmon and avocados are both overflowing with healthy fats. It’s only logical to combine the two together in one compact meal.

Start by taking some salmon. Then mix it with lemon and sour cream (mayo or Greek yogurt also works) until you have a salad-like consistency. Stuff it into your avocados and top with some fresh dill for added deliciousness.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGKA7ahlXMF/?tagged=salmonstuffedavocado

A Vegan’s Dream

Vegans are well aware of avocados, but there are ways to make them even more vegan—beyond vegan, even.

Start by marinating tofu and broccoli in a spicy mustard sauce. When done, char them up on the grill along with avocado. Upon finishing, stuff the grilled avocado with grilled tofu and broccoli for a nutritious next-level vegan treat.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd5EWcIHJzu/?tagged=stuffedavocado

Better Than Pizza?

Not many foods are better than pizza, right? Still, these Caprese-style stuffed avocados surely put up a good fight. Put together a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad ahead of time and keep it refrigerated. When it’s time to serve, stuff the mixture inside your avocados and drizzle with a sweet balsamic reduction.

For a couple of minutes, you’ll forget pizza even existed.

The post 5 Nutritious Stuffed Avocado Recipes That’ll Leave You Drooling appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Don’t Trust the Color

There are so many different types of avocados, and they all turn into a different shade when they are ripe and ready to eat. That is why you should never rely on only the color when you pick the perfect avocado.

Check if it’s Soft

This is one of the best signs that you have the perfect avocado. Put on the palm of your hand and squeeze it. If you can squeeze it gently than it’s ready. If it’s firm, you might want to wait.

No Dark Spots

Avoid the avocados that have dark spots on their skin. Chances are, these are not fresh products.

Check Out the Stems

The stem of an avocado can give you so much information. If it’s green, you can go ahead and buy it. If it’s brown, that avocado is too ripe for you. This is a very simple trick that most people don’t know.

Press the Stem

Gently press the stem and you’ll know the final decision. If your finger leaves an impression, then the avocado is overripe.

The post 5 Easy Tips to Pick the Perfect Avocado appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Here are five ways to preserve your avocados so they taste delicious and look appetizing for as long as possible.

Water Immersion

Immersion in water followed by immediate refrigeration for 48 hours, according to the test, is the absolute best way to keep a cut avocado looking fresh and beautiful. None of the remaining eight methods tested worked nearly as well as storing a cut, pitted half of an avocado submerged in water. The video did not show whether the water came from a tap or was bottled. Another advantage of this method is that water does not affect the avocado’s flavor.

Why does water work so well? The reason might not be the water itself, so much as the fact that the avocado is submerged in it. Exposure to air is what causes oxidation, the process of the avocado turning brown. Essentially, it’s rusting. By completely immersing the pitted avocado half in water, oxygen is prevented from getting to the flesh of the fruit, and so the avocado retains its lovely green color as if it had just been cut open.

By completely immersing the pitted avocado half in water, oxygen is prevented from getting to the flesh of the fruit, and so the avocado retains its lovely green color as if it had just been cut open.

Lemon Or Lime Slice

The experiment results seemed to show that a pitted avocado half fared slightly better when covered with a lime slice than a lemon slice. Either or both of these juices are often squeezed into guacamole to add flavor and keep it looking fresh. Not surprisingly, the avocados tested with citrus fruit slices came out looking pretty good, though not nearly as good as the water-immersed avocado. It would be interesting to see the result of an avocado being immersed in citrus juice for two days.

Red Or Yellow Onion Slice

Onion slices don’t make avocados cry; they keep avocados looking reasonably fresh. If you don’t mind onion flavor mixed in with your avocados, this could be a useful trick to try. The avocado halves tested with this method came out looking about as good as the ones topped with citrus fruit slices.

Pit In Versus Pit Out

Mothers have long sworn that avocados stay fresher when the pit is left in, but the results of the avocado preservation experiment seemed to show that pit out is the way to go. This is counterintuitive because, if preventing air from reaching the flesh of the avocado prevents oxidation from occurring, pit in ought to do better than it appeared to.

Brushing With Olive Oil

Again, by logic, this ought to work better than it seemed to. Brushing the avocado flesh with olive oil should have coated it enough to prevent oxygen from turning the flesh brown. The flat part of the avocado half did not look too bad, but the hollow part where the pit was removed had gone brown by the time the two days were up.

One final note: If your avocado does turn brown, you can slice off the brown bits and safely eat what’s underneath!

The post 5 Useful Tricks That’ll Keep Your Avocados Fresh For Days appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Sign 1: Color

Visual cues can come in handy when trying to determine the ripeness of avocados. The color of avocados is one of the main signs of their level of ripeness. Avocados with dark green or nearly black skin can be eaten right away, while green ones need some more time to ripen.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Best Life Australia (@bestlifeau)

Sign 2: Texture

The texture is another visual cue that can help you determine avocado’s ripeness. It’s common for dark green avocados to have a bumpy texture because they’re perfectly ripe, while the ones with smooth texture usually aren’t ready to be eaten right away.

Sign 3: Firmness

The final step you can take before buying your avocados is to check their firmness. You can do this by gently squeezing the avocado in your hand. Ripe avocados will feel slightly soft when squeezed, but they won’t be too mushy.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Niya (@dothenewofficial)

The post How to Pick Perfectly Ripe Avocados Every Single Time appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Here are some foods that you should eat frequently to help maintain good skin health.

Avocado

Avocados are packed with healthy fats, which are essential for skin health. In addition, they contain vitamins C and E, which work together to give your skin protection from damaging UV rays.

Salmon

Salmon’s key component is omega-3 fatty acids, which help to keep your skin moisturized and your collagen healthy. Salmon and other fatty fishes are fantastic for maintaining healthy skin.

Orange

Oranges have two key components that are great for your skin: vitamin C and beta carotene. Vitamin C and beta carotene work together as a natural “sunscreen” to protect your sun from harmful rays.

Almond

These nuts are full of antioxidants that help to protect your skin cells from free radicals that can damage them. This slows the process of aging and helps to keep your skin looking tight and young.

The post These Foods Help Promote Healthy Skin appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Ingredients

The ingredients you need are:
16 leaves lettuce
4 wheat tortillas
1 avocado
1 red pepper
2 tablespoons reduced-calorie mayonnaise
4 tablespoons salsa
1-240g pack sliced cooked chicken

Instructions

The first step you need to take for successful avocado wraps is to pit the avocado the right way. Cut it in half, and rotate the two halves so that you can separate them. Take out the pit from the middle, making sure that everything else stays intact.

Grab a knife and cut the two halves into slices. Remove the peel in the end and take out the slices.

The next step is to prepare the lettuce and the red pepper. Wash them and cut the pepper into small strips.

Add mayonnaise to the wheat tortillas, top them with the chicken meat. Continue layering the avocado pieces, lettuce, and pepper. Finish off with the salsa.

All you have left is to wrap the tortilla and secure them with a stick. You can feel free to toast it if that’s what you prefer.

The post These Green Avocado Wraps Are Summer’s Easiest Treat appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Despite their simplicity, quesadillas can be modified in countless ways. The simple addition of one or two ingredients inside of your two tortillas can transform a quesadilla from dull to drab! Here are three suggestions for creative additions to your next quesadilla.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are a filling way to put a unique touch on a quesadilla. We love combining mushrooms with simple, creamy cheeses such as mozzarella in mine. They can be canned or fresh–either way, you’re going to love it!

Avocados

Mmm, cheese and creamy avocado. The delectable texture that avocado acquires when it gets warm and is in contact with melty cheese in a quesadilla is an absolute treasure. You can take heart in knowing that it’s authentic too, being popular in Mexican gastronomy!

Pineapple

Hear us out here. You might want to brown your pineapple in a skillet or on a grill before placing it in a quesadilla, but if you combine it with a cheese that isn’t too sharp or aggressive, this combination is actually extremely delicious.

The post Try These Creative Ingredients in Your Next Quesadilla appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Avocado veterans and newcomers alike can sometimes be flummoxed, nonetheless, by the strange shape and giant seed in the middle of this fruit. How should I cut this thing, anyway?

Fear not. Here’s a guide on how to cut your avocados in the easiest way possible.

1. Make a Vertical Cut Around

Start off by taking a sharp knife and cutting a slice vertically around the entire avocado in order to separate it into two pieces. You should now see an exposed seed and fruit.

2. Stick Your Knife into the Seed

Go ahead, don’t be shy! Take the sharp side of your knife and dive it into the woody seed until it sticks with a thud.

3. Remove the Seed

Now, twist your knife inside of the seed and pull out. The tricky avocado seed will come right out, and you can now discard of it!

4. Make Slices Inside of the Peel

Finally, it’s important to know that it’s way easier to cut an avocado inside of its peel than it is to peel first. Cut your desired slices or chunks and then scoop out with a spoon. It’s that simple!

The post Are You Cutting Your Avocados the Right Way? appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Their nutritional content and delicious taste make them a highly desirable food for lots of people. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to choose avocados to eat.

These three tips will help you become an expert in picking the perfect avocado.

Look at the Color

An avocado which is ripe and ready to eat will almost never be green. Instead, look for avocados that are closer to black with small bits of green if you want a ripe avocado. If it’s completely black, it’s too ripe and might be spoiled. Buy them closer to green if you’re planning to eat them later.

Observe the Skin

Avocados that are ready to eat generally do not have smooth skin. Instead, their skin will be slightly rough and pebbled. Be sure that the avocado doesn’t have any noticeable bruising, too.

Squeeze the Avocado

One of the most important tips for finding a good avocado is to observe how it feels. Avocados that are ripe will give slightly to touch and not be completely hard. It’s also important that avocados aren’t too mushy, which means that they could be overripe.

The post These Tips Will Help You Pick the Perfect Avocado appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

While that’s true, stuffing them only makes the experience that much better—so why not do it? The following recipes are simple, healthy, and so delicious, you may never eat anything else again.

The Year Of Pulses

The United Nations labeled 2016 as the year of pulses. Pulses are food items that grow in pods, like lentils, peas, and beans. Let’s continue the celebration in 2017 with chickpea stuffed avocados.

Mixing together chickpeas, tamari, and grated carrot gives you a vibrant, refreshing salad that complements the buttery avocado texture oh so nicely.

Chickpeas out of a can are perfectly acceptable, but if you want to get the maximum health benefit from these tasty pulses, then look for the sprouted variety. If you’re really adventurous, you can sprout them yourself—but that’s a story for another day.

Who Needs Tacos When You Have This?

We can all agree that tacos are the culinary gift of the gods, but what if we cut out the middleman and ditched the tortilla altogether? By stuffing your avocados with black beans and chicken and topping them with cheese, onions and hot sauce, you get all the best parts of tacos in one bite.

For those looking to shed some pounds, ditching that tortilla is a great way to lose some extra calories. Taco purists may hate the sound of this but give it a try and see for yourself just how delicious this is.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeaxQatnOVp/?tagged=stuffedavocado

When Healthy Fats Collide

If you’re caught up on your nutritional trends, then you know that salmon and avocados are both overflowing with healthy fats. It’s only logical to combine the two together in one compact meal.

Start by taking some salmon. Then mix it with lemon and sour cream (mayo or Greek yogurt also works) until you have a salad-like consistency. Stuff it into your avocados and top with some fresh dill for added deliciousness.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGKA7ahlXMF/?tagged=salmonstuffedavocado

A Vegan’s Dream

Vegans are well aware of avocados, but there are ways to make them even more vegan—beyond vegan, even.

Start by marinating tofu and broccoli in a spicy mustard sauce. When done, char them up on the grill along with avocado. Upon finishing, stuff the grilled avocado with grilled tofu and broccoli for a nutritious next-level vegan treat.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd5EWcIHJzu/?tagged=stuffedavocado

Better Than Pizza?

Not many foods are better than pizza, right? Still, these Caprese-style stuffed avocados surely put up a good fight. Put together a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad ahead of time and keep it refrigerated. When it’s time to serve, stuff the mixture inside your avocados and drizzle with a sweet balsamic reduction.

For a couple of minutes, you’ll forget pizza even existed.

The post 5 Nutritious Stuffed Avocado Recipes That’ll Leave You Drooling appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Don’t Trust the Color

There are so many different types of avocados, and they all turn into a different shade when they are ripe and ready to eat. That is why you should never rely on only the color when you pick the perfect avocado.

Check if it’s Soft

This is one of the best signs that you have the perfect avocado. Put on the palm of your hand and squeeze it. If you can squeeze it gently than it’s ready. If it’s firm, you might want to wait.

No Dark Spots

Avoid the avocados that have dark spots on their skin. Chances are, these are not fresh products.

Check Out the Stems

The stem of an avocado can give you so much information. If it’s green, you can go ahead and buy it. If it’s brown, that avocado is too ripe for you. This is a very simple trick that most people don’t know.

Press the Stem

Gently press the stem and you’ll know the final decision. If your finger leaves an impression, then the avocado is overripe.

The post 5 Easy Tips to Pick the Perfect Avocado appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

Here are five ways to preserve your avocados so they taste delicious and look appetizing for as long as possible.

Water Immersion

Immersion in water followed by immediate refrigeration for 48 hours, according to the test, is the absolute best way to keep a cut avocado looking fresh and beautiful. None of the remaining eight methods tested worked nearly as well as storing a cut, pitted half of an avocado submerged in water. The video did not show whether the water came from a tap or was bottled. Another advantage of this method is that water does not affect the avocado’s flavor.

Why does water work so well? The reason might not be the water itself, so much as the fact that the avocado is submerged in it. Exposure to air is what causes oxidation, the process of the avocado turning brown. Essentially, it’s rusting. By completely immersing the pitted avocado half in water, oxygen is prevented from getting to the flesh of the fruit, and so the avocado retains its lovely green color as if it had just been cut open.

By completely immersing the pitted avocado half in water, oxygen is prevented from getting to the flesh of the fruit, and so the avocado retains its lovely green color as if it had just been cut open.

Lemon Or Lime Slice

The experiment results seemed to show that a pitted avocado half fared slightly better when covered with a lime slice than a lemon slice. Either or both of these juices are often squeezed into guacamole to add flavor and keep it looking fresh. Not surprisingly, the avocados tested with citrus fruit slices came out looking pretty good, though not nearly as good as the water-immersed avocado. It would be interesting to see the result of an avocado being immersed in citrus juice for two days.

Red Or Yellow Onion Slice

Onion slices don’t make avocados cry; they keep avocados looking reasonably fresh. If you don’t mind onion flavor mixed in with your avocados, this could be a useful trick to try. The avocado halves tested with this method came out looking about as good as the ones topped with citrus fruit slices.

Pit In Versus Pit Out

Mothers have long sworn that avocados stay fresher when the pit is left in, but the results of the avocado preservation experiment seemed to show that pit out is the way to go. This is counterintuitive because, if preventing air from reaching the flesh of the avocado prevents oxidation from occurring, pit in ought to do better than it appeared to.

Brushing With Olive Oil

Again, by logic, this ought to work better than it seemed to. Brushing the avocado flesh with olive oil should have coated it enough to prevent oxygen from turning the flesh brown. The flat part of the avocado half did not look too bad, but the hollow part where the pit was removed had gone brown by the time the two days were up.

One final note: If your avocado does turn brown, you can slice off the brown bits and safely eat what’s underneath!

The post 5 Useful Tricks That’ll Keep Your Avocados Fresh For Days appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.