Avocado Egg Salad

I hate mayonnaise. It smells funny, it has a weird color, and it jiggles. 


Unfortunately, I like a lot of things that have mayonnaise in them, so I started using avocado as a replacement. Here is an egg salad that is equally good made with tofu. Feel free to add or replace ingredients to your taste.




Avocado Egg Salad

4 hard boiled eggs or 1 cup extra firm tofu

1 ripe avocado

1 t lime juice

1 T finely chopped red or mild white onion

finely minced jalapeño (to taste, optional)

finely minced garlic (to taste, optional)

salt

black pepper

chipotle chili powder (to taste, optional)

Put the avocado flesh into a bowl and mash it with a fork until it becomes smooth. Peel and cut the eggs into a few pieces, put them into another bowl, and mash with a fork until you form small chunks. If you are using tofu instead of eggs, wrap it in paper towels and put a heavy plate on top of it for 30 minutes to an hour to squeeze out the excess water before mashing it. 

Fold the egg or tofu into the mashed avocado and add to the mixture the lime juice, onion and jalapeño and garlic if using. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Add in the chipotle chili powder to taste, if using, or sprinkle it on top if serving open faced sandwiches or on crackers, like in the picture at the top. This salad can also be served on lettuce leaves, with pita chips, or you could just eat it with a spoon.

This recipe only takes about 10 minutes to make. Serves 4 and each serving has 156 calories. Avocados have healthy monounsaturated fat and 35% more potassium than bananas. They are also high in B vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin K and fiber so enjoy them!

Vegan Adzuki Bean Burgers

Small, red adzuki beans have a slightly sweet taste and are perfect for making these vegan bean burgers. They are high in fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc and folic acid and they are low in calories. If you can't find them or don't like the flavor, black beans are a great substitute.

Vegan Adzuki Bean Burgers

15 oz cooked adzuki beans

4 oz cooked garbanzo beans

1/2 medium onion

1/2 small zucchini

1 large handful spinach and/or kale

2 medium button mushrooms

2 cloves garlic

1/2 t chipotle chili powder

1/2 t cumin

1/4 t red chili flakes

1/4 t turmeric

black pepper

salt

1/4 cup flour of your choice

lettuce

tomato

avocado

spicy brown mustard (optional)

If you are using canned beans, drain and gently rise them in a sieve or bowl. Place the beans into a bowl and mash them until they start to turn into a thick paste but still have some chunks of bean. Finely chop the onion, zucchini, greens and mushrooms.

Heat a sauté pan on medium heat and add a teaspoon of oil (I like macadamia nut oil). When the pan is hot, add the chopped veggies and sauté until the veggies wilt and become a little soft. The spinach and kale should still be bright green, but wilted. Do not over cook and dry out the veggies too much.

Add the cooked veggies to the mashed bean mixture. Finely mince or crush the garlic and add it to the mixture. Add the spices, and salt and pepper to taste. The spices can be adjusted to you liking. Refrigerate the mixture for at least one hour. If the mixture feels too soft or you plan on using it the next day, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour to the mixture to dry it out a little more.

Heat a pan on medium heat with two tablespoons of oil. Form scoops of the bean mixture into patties that are approximately 3 inches in diameter and 1/2 an inch thick. You can adjust the diameter based on your burger bun size, but if they get too big they will tear easily because the mixture is quite soft. Lightly dust the patties with flour of your choice and add them two or three at a time to the hot pan. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per size until golden brown.

Serve on buns (I like Portland French Bakery’s Pub Buns) with lettuce leaves, lightly salted tomato slices, avocado slices and a little spicy brown mustard if you like.

This recipe makes about 6 patties.

138 calories per burger patty.