Avocado Toast with Fresh Tomato & Poached Egg
Okay, okay, I will undeniably fess up to the fact that it’s more than likely true. After years of contemplation since first being told about this by my college academic counselor. I believe and have to agree that maybe, possibly, I could be a late bloomer in life. But honestly, who knew it would be the avocado pointing to my late-blooming propensities?
Confession - I'm a late bloomer...
It must have been somewhere about nineteen years old when the awareness of avocado entered my life and became a regular part of my diet. I’m sure I’d eaten them before then, but most likely as an ingredient mashed and incorporated into guacamole. I remember loving guacamole dip from my earlier Tucson, Arizona, days. But honestly, I never really had put two and two together and realized that there was a fruit behind the creamy dip.
Can you hear the resonating harp sounds transporting me back to 1979?
It was my soon-to-be brother-in-law, who’d come home to the LP (lower peninsula) of Michigan for a visit, who was responsible for introducing the “alligator pear,” which is descriptive because it tends to be shaped like a pear and has green, bumpy skin… like an alligator.
The eldest brother of my (now) husband had brought fresh Hass avocados from sunny southern California as a treat to share with the family during his visit home.
Can I say he had me with avocado?
OMG!!! I was in love! No, not with my soon-to-be brother-in-law, but with this newly discovered creamy yellow-green fleshy fruit!
How many ways can I tell you I loved it?
But loving the fruit and affording it were two different things.
The northern lower peninsula of Michigan, at least in the late 1970s, was not known for affordable varieties of fruits and vegetables, especially during months from September through June.
So, avocados became a special treat. When I was lucky enough to have and eat them, they garnished salads or were mashed as an ingredient in guacamole, and that was pretty much it.
Enter the early 1980s…
My love affair with avocados renewed when our then-young family relocated for a year to Long Beach, California, where the avocado was plentiful. It could be found at all the grocers, and because we could find it anywhere, they were much easier on the pocketbook!
But while we ate the fruit more often during that period in California, the culinary possibilities of avocado still eluded my kitchen repertoire.
Then we moved to Wisconsin…
Wisconsin is where I fully began to appreciate avocados. Go figure that the Dairy State would be my inspiration for avocados, but I pinky swear it was.
Shortly after our move to central Wisconsin, I launched a small publication called The Country Gazette. The bi-monthly magazine covered all sorts of interesting stories and trivia from the state. I was always looking everywhere for weird, wacky, and exciting stuff, and that’s when I learned about…
How a mailman from Wisconsin invented the world’s most popular type of avocado.
And about how 95% of all avocados consumed in the U.S. and a majority of avocados consumed globally can be traced back to his tree.
So, while the 1990s and millennials are credited for avocado toast becoming a thing, it was in the middle to late 1980s when I mashed up my first avocado to spread it on toast. And while I’d love to take full credit for inventing it, I think the original idea for me came from my Bible study group at church. I’m pretty sure there was where all the ways to use avocado in recipes became a topic somehow in the middle of scripture.
But truth be told, if it weren’t for a Wisconsin mailman, the avocados we know today never would have existed.
Rudolph Hass is said to be the Godfather of the most popular avocado in the world.
He was born in Milwaukee, where he grew up to be a mailman before moving to southern California when he was 27.
Then, in 1925, he planted the tree that would change avocados forever.
As the story goes, Rudolph just let the tree grow, and in about 1930 or so, the tree started bearing fruit. The avocado he grew was creamier and richer than the leading varieties. Once people found out, everyone wanted a taste.
Rudolph got a fruit patent in 1935. He struck a deal with a local nursery to split the profit as long as they grew and sold the tree.
According to the California Avocado Society, they sold more than 16,000 Hass avocado trees in 10 years.
Fast forward to today, where countries like Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru almost exclusively grow Hass Avocados. They can even be found in China and across Africa.
So, if it weren’t for Rudolph Hass, a Wisconsin man, the avocados we know today never would have existed.
Here’s a breakfast, brunch or dinner idea, only one of the many of my late blooming ways to use avocado in cooking. It’s a simple, delicious option to make you feel like you’re eating amongst the elite at an upscale restaurant in - well, you name the place.
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The Healthy Benefits of Avocados
With their beneficial effects on health and nutrition, avocado is a positive nutrient booster for your family’s diet. Naturally, gluten-free, sodium, sugar, and cholesterol-free, and a great source of dietary fiber that tastes great, I will tell you that my love for avocado has grown more profound and vital.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that Americans focus on a variety of nutrient-dense foods and increase their intake of dietary fiber that occurs naturally in foods. Doing this is believed to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
In a nutshell, nutrient-dense foods are those that provide substantial amounts of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients with relatively few calories. Avocados fit that bill perfectly. According to the California Avocado Commission, just one-third of a medium avocado (50g) has 80 calories and contributes nearly 20 vitamins and minerals.
You can Google, like I’ve done, to read 21,900,000 results about the health benefits of avocados so I won’t go any further into that here. But I will say that avocado is a fruit I can promise will be gracing many recipes for years.
Before I go...
I hope you try this recipe for Avocado Toast with Fresh Tomato and poached Egg. It’s only one of many of my late-blooming ways to use avocado in cooking. Serve it for breakfast, brunch, or dinner as a simple, delicious option to make you feel like you’re eating amongst the elite at an upscale restaurant in – well, you name the place.
As a final note, I can assure you that these days it won’t set you back more than a buck or two in most parts of the country, that and a few minutes of prep time before you can enjoy eating it at your table.
Avocado Toast with Fresh Tomato & Poached Egg
EQUIPMENT
- shallow pan 2-3 -inches deep
- spatula
- spoon
- toaster
INGREDIENTS
- 4 large eggs
- 4 slices Gluten-Free Bread toasted
- 1 ripe Tomato sliced
- Drizzle good-quality Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Parmesan Cheese grated
- Fresh Parsley chopped for garnish
For the Spread
- 2 ripe Avocados
- 1 Tablespoon prepared Salsa
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon lime juice
To Poach the Eggs
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
- 4 cups water for poaching
- 4 Eggs
INSTRUCTIONS
For the Avocado Spread
- In a small bowl mash avocado.
- Stir in salsa, salt, and lime juice. Set aside.
To Poach the Eggs
- Bring water and vinegar to a high simmer in a shallow pan (making sure there is enough water to cover the eggs once they are added). Use one tablespoon white vinegar per quart of water. Vinegar helps to hold the egg whites together. Note: Do not add any salt to the water as it dissolves the egg white.
- One at a time, gently swirl the water in a circular motion with a spoon in the spot where you will be dropping the egg. Crack the egg on the counter and slip into the simmering water. Gently slide a spatula under the egg to loosen from the bottom of the pan so that the egg is floating. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, just until the white is set, and the yolk has filmed over. Using a spatula, slide the egg onto a slotted spoon to remove.
Put it all together...
- Spread two heaping spoonfuls of avocado mixture over toast.
- Place 1-2 slices of tomato along-side the toast, overlapping slightly.
- Finish by placing a poached egg on top of toast. Drizzle egg and tomato with a small amount of olive oil and garnish with grated parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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(Nutritional values are an approximation. Actual nutritional values may vary due to preparation techniques, variations related to suppliers, regional and seasonal differences, or rounding.)
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