Best Way to Ripen, Cut, & Preserve an Avocado
Either in guacamole, as a replacement for mayo on a sandwich, or just plain with a little bit of salt, avocados are delicious and nutritious! Full of fiber, potassium, folate, vitamins K, C, B6, E, and monounsaturated fat, avocados are great for blood pressure and blood sugar control, as well as for keeping belly fat down. Do you need any more reasons to indulge?
When ripe, avocados have a fantastic flavor and a buttery texture. Yet they have half the calories of butter and are way more nutritious. If you aren't using ripe avocados for a few days, put them in the refrigerator immediately to slow the ripening process.
Underripe avocados are hard like a bouncy ball and shouldn't go in the refrigerator until they are riper. The temperature slows down the ripening process and may keep the avocado from ripening correctly to bring out the best taste. So what do you do when you're having mad avo cravings but your stash isn't ripe? Read ahead for some pointers!
Speed Up Ripening
Some internet sources suggest microwaving the avocado or wrapping underripe avocados in tin foil and baking at 200 degrees for 10 minutes or so. The heat will soften the flesh of the avocado, so it is easier to eat but won't actually ripen. It'll retain some of its rubbery texture and lack the great buttery, nutty flavor that comes from the natural ripening process. All in all, this method is not something I recommend. You can, however, significantly speed up the natural ripening process with a more effective trick.
The best way to expedite the natural process is to put an apple, kiwi fruit, or pear in a bag with your avocado and let it sit at room temperature. These fruits, including avocados, release ethylene gas, a plant hormone that moves the ripening process along. The trapped ethylene will encourage the avocado to ripen quickly when enclosed in a bag. Older varieties of apples, like golden or red delicious, release more ethylene than newer varieties, like Gala or Fuji.
Cutting Avocados
Try peeling avocados over scooping them out of the skin with a spoon. The most nutrient-packed part of the fruit is the dark green closest to the skin; it has the highest concentration of carotenoids (avocados have 11 different kinds of carotenoids!), including lutein, which helps your eyesight stay keen while you age.
Several years ago, at a food and nutrition conference, the California Avocado Commission showed me the best way to cut and peel an avocado. It's easier too! Just halve the avocado length-wise, and then slice the halves into quarters length-wise as well. The pit comes out easily at this point, keeping you safer than removing the pit with a knife. You can just peel the skin off each avocado section with your fingers. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3! Check out this video to see it happen.
Prevent Browning
To keep the remaining avocado half from turning grayish brown, keep air away from the open flesh and use a red onion. Just place a few slices of raw red onion in the bottom of a small air-tight storage container. Put the half of the avocado that still contains the pit on top of the red onions, pit side down, so the onions are in contact with the meat of the avocado. Seal the container with a lid and store it in the refrigerator.
You can also top an avocado (with the pit still in) with sliced raw red onions and tightly wrap the avocado half with onion with plastic wrap. Try to use it within 12 - 24 hours. Some browning might still occur depending on how long it sits before you use the avocado with either method, but it will be significantly less. Just scrape off the top layer of the stored avocado, and no one will be the wiser since it's only on the surface.
This tasty No-mayo Avocado Egg Salad recipe lasts for at least two days without browning. It's made with a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped red onion as well as two tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar. The combination of these two ingredients makes all the difference in keeping the avocado looking green. The red onion added to this Avocado Black Bean Roasted Corn Salad recipe also seems to keep the yummy salad looking good. Both recipes are gobbled quickly, so the test has never been completed beyond two days.
With these avocado tricks in hand, you will enjoy avocados more easily! Follow Fix #2 of my 12 Fixes to replace less healthy fats with healthier fats like the healthful monounsaturated fat found in avocados.
You can find all 12 of these fixes in my book, 12 Fixes to Health, where I narrowed down the scientific findings to the most essential fixes to improve your health and weight. Use this book as a manual and add each fix a week or month throughout the year. Enjoy avocados while boosting your health and losing fat weight as you do this 12-Fix Lean Life Plan with me!
Judith (aka Judes) Scharman Draughon, MS, RDN, LDN, is a registered, licensed dietitian nutritionist, author of 12 Fixes to Health: A Wellness Plan for Life, as well as a corporate wellness speaker. Judes inspires many with her high-energy nutrition presentations, workshops, and seminars throughout the county.
Judes is passionate about her quest to empower people to make small changes that make a big difference. She can’t wait to empower you!