Make Over Your Meals With Delicious California Avocados (NAPSA)—Whether you’re enjoying a picnic at the park, grilling up dinnerfor the family or entertaining friends at a backyard get-together, California avocados can be an excellent ingredient for any meal. Currently in the peak of their season, California avocados add creamy texture and exceptional flavor to your salads, burgers and favorite dishes while contributing nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients to your diet. Avocados also are one of the few fruits that deliver “good” monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, providing 3 grams of monounsaturated fats and 0.5 gramsof polyunsaturated fats per 1 oz. serving. In fact, Janice Newell Bissex M.S., R.D. and Liz Weiss, M.S., R.D., two leading nutrition experts known as “The Meal > Makeover Moms,” recommend substituting avocados for things like mayonnaise, butter and sour cream in traditional get-together dishes to improve theirfat profile. “Dishes like summer pasta salads are often loaded with mayonnaise,” explains Bissex. “Our recipe for California Avocado Macaroni SummerSalad features a dressing made with velvety avocados. It’s a delicious update on a classic dish that everyone loves—perfect for picnics and barbecues.” This can be a great time to take advantage of beautiful, seasonal produce like Californiagrown avocadosto create dazzling dishes with lots of fresh flavors and beneficial nutrients. Here’s a tip: When you're preparing the avocados for this recipe, simply nick and peel the skin from the avocado to get to the dark green nutrient-rich fruit directly underthe peel.’ A colorful salad of avocados, macaroni and tomatoes can make a great family meal or picnic dish. For more tips like these and delicious summertime recipes, visit CaliforniaAvocado.com. California Avocado Macaroni SummerSalad Serves: 8 Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Total time: 25 minutes Ingredients: 3 cups dried whole wheat blend macaroni 3 ripe, fresh California avocados, halved, peeled and seeded % cup low-fat plain Greek % % 3 3 1 1 % % yogurt cup fresh basil, packed cup fresh mint, packed Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil Tbsp. lemon juice, divided tsp. lemon zest small clove garlic tsp. koshersalt tsp. black pepper 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved 1 cup fresh corn kernels (or frozen and thawed) Basil and mint, chopped (garnish) Instructions: 1. Cook the pasta according to package directions. 2. While the pasta is cooking, place an avocado half in the bow] of a food processor or blender. Add the yogurt, basil, mint, olive oil, two-thirds of the lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, salt and pepper and process until smooth and creamy. Scrape downthe sides of the bow] as needed. 3. Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl. Cool completely. Stir the dressing into the pasta until well combined. Meanwhile, cut the remaining avocadosinto %-inch dice. Gently stir into the pasta with the tomatoes, corn and the remaining lemon juice. 4, Season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish with additional chopped herbs, and serve. Nutrition Information Per Serving: Calories 370; Total Fat 19 g (Sat 3 g, Trans 0 g, Poly 2 g, Mono 13 g); Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 140 mg; Potassium 670 mg; Dietary Fiber 10 g; Protein 10 g ‘Lu Q. California Hass Avocado: Profiling of Carotenoids, Tocopherol, Fatty Acid, and Fat Content During Maturation and From Different Growing Areas. J Agric Food Chem.2009; 57:10408-10413.
