Avocado Toast

Along with the rest of the world, I love avocado toast. It's such a simple and delicious thing to throw together. My Mom always made it for me growing up. In high school I would eat it on wheat toast sprinkled with ground flax meal for breakfast on the way to school. This version is inspired by Eats here in San Francisco. It's a great little spot for brunch just a short walk from our house. One of the first times I was there, I ordered the avocado toast because I can never resist when I see it on the menu. Theirs was served on ciabatta bread with mashed avocado, sliced radish and chives. I don't usually love radish, but thinly sliced it was the perfect compliment to the creamy avocado.

Since then, I often create my own version of their avocado toast at home. I like buying a sourdough baguette and slicing it lengthwise. Then, I drizzle with olive oil and lightly toast the bread under the broiler. Next, I add thinly sliced (or mashed) avocado, followed by the thinly sliced radish. I top it with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. For breakfast, I love to make this and top it with a poached egg!

I've found that our local store, Cal-Mart has the best avocados (our Safeway is the worst for avocado). Andrew calls me the pitted fruit whisperer because I always pick the best ones, ha! I typically go for just barely soft, I prefer avocados on the underripe side. I hate when you cut into them and find brown spots or those gross strings. Also, if you remove the little stem at the top and it's green (not brown at all) that usually means it's perfect. Another tip; to get avocados to ripen quickly you can keep them in a brown paper bag on the counter. Sometimes I buy them really green to make sure they won't go bad before we get a chance to eat them, and this is a good trick if they're not ripening fast enough.

Avocado Toast -

Ingredients:
1 Ripe Avocado, thinly sliced or mashed
2 Radish, thinly sliced
1 Sourdough baguette (or preferred bread)
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
Juice of 1 Lemon

Directions:
Slice bread lengthwise, drizzle with olive oil and broil for 2-3 minutes until lightly toasted. Once the bread is toasted, add avocado followed by thinly sliced radish. Garnish with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Add a poached egg for a delicious and filling breakfast!