Yogi Food: Avocados (‘fwkadw) in Egypt

Beautiful, Healthy Skin Food

No starch, little sugar, good fiber.
These Egyptian avocados are ripe and ready to eat.

I was so excited to see avocados at the veg stand last week! What a versatile fruit. I love when they come into season here.

Avocados are pricy in Egypt, (as they are almost anywhere.) But, I don't eat meat (which is an expensive part of a food budget), and avocados are an important part of my yogic diet, so I will splurge when I find good ones. We paid 30 egyptian pounds per kilo last week for this batch of avocados. I've paid as high as 40 LE. This batch was fantastic!

So what about this monounsaturated fat?

Monounsaturated-fat diet contributes to better control of blood glucose and triglycerides. The avocado fat is a type of fat that may actually help to raise levels of HDL ("good"cholesterol) which actually protects arteries, while lowering levels of LDL ("bad" cholesterol).

Avocados contain great amounts of protein, potassium, magnesium, folic acid, B vitamins, vitamin E, and vitamin K.

The avocado originally came from Persia. There are more than 400 varieties of avocado. Some have smooth skin and are green, and some have rough skin and are black.

The ones that I find in Egypt have smoother skin, but unlike the large bright green California avocado, the avocados here are smaller and more similar in size to the Hass avocado. They just don't have the bumpy skin as the Hass.

Selection and Storage

• choose avocados that are soft to the touch, but not too soft. A slight squeeze will determine if they are ripe.
• Ripe avocados should be kept in the refrigerator
• If the avocado is bought unripe, you can place the fruit in a paper bag until it is ripe or store it at room temperature for a few days

Preparation and Serving

• slice avocado lengthwise and twist to separate 2 halves. Remove the pit
• if avocado is not used immediately, add some lemon or lime just to prevent browning
• place diced avocado in salads
• avocados are considered a neutral fruit because it blends well with almost any flavour and mixes well with either vegetables or fruit
• I love great mustards, so I will eat avocados with a bit of mustard

But won't avocados make me fat? NO!!

Heart-healthy monounsaturated fat

Avocado contains a high amount of fruit oil, which gives the avocado a high food energy value. It also contains very few carbohydrates. The avocado contains fourteen minerals, all of which regulate body functions and stimulate growth. It contains wonderful supply of iron and copper which aid in red blood regeneration and the prevention of nuteritional anemia. It also contains sodium and potassium, which give this fruit a high alkaline reaction.

Per avocado: 322 calories - 29 g fat (4 g saturated, 20 g monounsaturated) - 13 g fiber - 4 g protein

Next week, I'll write about the "greens diet" that Yogi Bhajan gave us as a mono-diet. Until then, here's a sweet little recipe for your avocados:

Raw Chocolate Mousse Recipe

2 ripe avocados
1/2 c agave or honey
1/4 c cocoa powder

Mix everything in a food processor

You can add if you like:

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
Dash Vanilla Extract

Blend it all until smooth and then scoop everything into a sealable container. Chill this in the refrigerator, or freeze. When it has set into a nice mousse, you can style it into a layered mix with strawberries or other fruit.

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Text References:

Bhajan, Yogi "The ancient art of self-healing"

Grotto (RD, LDN), David, "101 foods that could save your life"

The Raw Mousse recipe was sent to me by a friend.

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"Work does not kill you; food does. God does not kill you; food does.  Food is your first and last enemy. If you take in more than you can handle, it takes all of your energy to digest it." ~  Yogi Bhajan

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