September starts a week from today, and for me, that’s always a cause for celebrating. Cooler days and nights, a renewed sense of schedule and discipline, fall foods. This anti-summer person is here for all of it.
This week I noticed in my area that avocados are (for a change) very inexpensive. I love them and hope you do, to. So even though all of this week’s recipes contain avocado, I promise, you won’t get tired of them. Once avocados are perfectly ripe, as you know, they’re best used sooner than later.
This week’s recipes are great for for this transitional time. Some of us are already in fall work mode, others have kids back to school or off to college. So many of the recipes we’ll be making this week work as portable meals or simple dinners
Laura Theodore’s Tex-Mex Salad Bowl
Asian Noodle Bowls with Avocado and Baked Tofu
Pasta con Palta (Pasta with Avocado Pesto)
Easy Black Bean Tostadas
And, make sure to scroll to the end for links to a roundup of ideas for avocado toast, which has quietly gone from trendy to classic, and an epic plant-based avocado recipe roundup. While I do visit your inbox regularly, please feel free to visit TheVeganAtlas.com for all your plant-based recipe needs in between.
Avocado varieties: The most common variety is Hass; that's the one you're most likely to see in your supermarket, produce market, and natural foods store. Learn about different types of avocado varieties.
Avocados are good for you: Avocados don’t just taste great, they’re also packed with a ton of nutrients, They provide folate, vitamins B, C, K and E, fiber, niacin, potassium and more. The monounsaturated fats help your body absorb the nutrients from other foods too. Here’s a full look at the nutrition profile of avocados.
Laura Theodore’s Festive Tex-Mex Salad Bowl
Jazzy Vegetarian Laura Theodore contributed her Tex-Mex salad bowl to The Vegan Atlas. It features a zingy lime-based dressing, paired with crisp romaine lettuce and cooked chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) and an array of colorful vegetables. It takes almost no time to compose these gorgeous bowls resplendent with a rainbow of bell peppers, avocado, cherry or grape tomatoes, olives, an greens.
Some years ago, I met Laura, aka Jazzy Vegetarian (she’s actually been vegan for quite a while, but she became known by this handle, partly also because she used to be a jazz singer) when guesting on her podcast. In fact, she recently re-ran our interview from a few years ago, discussing my then-new book, 5-Ingredient Vegan. Laura is the force behind the PBS cooking show Jazzy Vegetarian — now you can see many of the episodes on her YouTube channel.
This recipe serves 2 as a main dish, more in smaller portions. It’s a great lunch or dinner. For a larger meal at dinner, I recommend serving with a simple potato dish like baked oven fries, or baked or microwaved potatoes or sweet potatoes. For even more tips and the printable recipe card, see the entire post here.
Ingredients
8 cups loosely packed baby romaine or chopped romaine lettuce
20 or so black bean (or blue corn) tortilla chips
14 grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 cup cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed, if canned
Kernels from 1 large ear of corn, cooked (or 3/4 cup thawed frozen, thawed)
1/2 cup seeded and chopped orange or red sweet bell pepper
A few green olives with pimento, sliced
1 medium or 1/2 large avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
Sweet and Spicy Lime Dressing
2 1/2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
For each salad, put 4 cups of lettuce into a large bowl.
Arrange 10 tortilla chips around the circumference of the bowl.
Arrange 7 tomato halves on top of the lettuce.
Top with one-half of the chickpeas, corn kernels and sweet peppers.
Sprinkle one-half of the olives over the salad and arrange one-half of the avocado slices on top in a pleasing manner.
Put all of the dressing ingredients into a small bowl and briskly whisk until smooth (see note). Drizzle one-half of the dressing over the salad. Repeat with the second salad, and serve.
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