A is for Avocado

This is a part of our month-long Eating the Alphabet project! Click here to learn more about the book and project, and to see a list of all the recipes and activities.

 

First up in our month-long fruit and veggie adventure is avocado, perpared in that always kid-favorite food group, dip! This recipe is wonderfully simple, with no cooking or cutting involved. 

 

Young Readers in the Kitchen

Kids can help to mash the avocado, juice the lime, and measure and stir in the salsa!

 

Avocado Guacamole

adapted slightly from Fanny at Chez Panisse

Ingredients

• 1 avocado
• 1 lime
• 1/2 cup prepared salsa
• pinch salt

1. Halve the avocado from top to bottom, cutting around the seed. Reserve the seed for the Grow an Avocado activity (below).
   
   
   
   
2. Using a spoon, scrape the creamy flesh of the avocado out from the sking and into a bowl. Use a fork to mash the avocado until smooth.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Halve the lime and squeeze the juice of one half into the mashed avocado.
4. Add salsa and salt, and stir to combine. 
   
    
   
   
   

A is also for 

• Miss Bindergarten's Baked Apples
• Miss Suzy's Acorn Squash Pudding

Grow an Avocado

1. Remove the large seed from the avocado and put little hands to work washing away any remaining avocado flesh.
   
   
   
2. Holding the seed with the larger end at the bottom, insert two toothpicks opposite one another in the middle of the seed. Insert a third toothpick halfway between the other two. 
3. With the larger end of the seed pointing down, allow the toothpicks to balance the seed on the top of your container.  Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the seed.
   
   
4. Place the growing project in a warm, sunny spot. Add more water as needed in order to keep the bottom of the seed damp. Checking the water level is a wonderful job for young readers!
5. Now for the hard part – it will take two to six weeks for roots and stems to appear. Waiting it so hard!
6. Once the stem is six to seven inches tall, trim the stem and any leaves that have grown to about three inches. 
7. Once the roots of your avocado plant are filling the container and the leaves have grown again, transplant it into a pot filled with rich soil. Water thoroughly and find it a home in a sunny spot.
8. Once the stem has reached 12 inches, cut it back to six inches to encourage leaf growth.