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I had several avocados left over from last week’s chilled avocado soup and round here avocados are relatively expensive (2.99 each – OUCH!) so I didn’t want to see them go to waste. On the hunt for some novel ways to use up my leftovers I found a couple tantalizing recipes with relative ease. I used what we had on hand this week which was beef but I think all three of these recipes would go best with something a little lighter like chicken or pork.
The first was from one of my standbys, Cooking Light. I had actually come across this recipe for strawberry avocado salsa before and was intrigued by the pairing of 
strawberries and red onions. Skeptical that the flavors would actually work, I had to give it a try myself. I had picked up a four pack of filet mignons at the store earlier in the week so I decided to serve the salsa at dinner with two of the steaks. What a delicious dish! It was surprisingly good and indeed, the red onion and strawberry combo worked. This salsa is so versatile too – I think you could have it for breakfast (with some eggs, maybe a little champagne – yum!), lunch or dinner or even on its own with some tortilla chips.
I took the second dish from the latest edition of Martha Stewart Living. When I came across the Simple Summer Sides as Martha calls them, in the Healthy Living fit to eat section, I knew I’d have to give at least some of them a try. Not only did they look delicious and indeed, simple, but I’ve been growing tired of rotating through grilled corn o
n the cob, steamed green beans and roasted asparagus every night. These sides were a welcome and refreshing change. Lucky for me, one of the dishes called for avocado. This corn, avocado and cilantro combo** was a really excellent change from our traditional grilled corn on the cob. It paired quite well with the two remaining filets. The char of the corn off the grill combined with the cilantro gave it great flavor. Admittedly, my avocados were a little overripe at this point, which doesn’t bode well for aesthetics but had no effect on flavor in my opinion. If you’re wanting a perfect looking dish, however, you’d need to use just barely ripe avocados so that they keep their shape.
One other dish in the Summer Sides section really caught my eye. It was a combination of peaches, basil and red onion**. Again, intrigued by the recommendation to use red onion in a way I never thought possible (and basil for that matter), I immediately ran out to buy some peaches to make this dish. This was by far my favorite of the three
dishes. It was so light and refreshing – it really felt like summer. And, the flavor combination was really interesting. Every bite left me trying to figure out how this combination actually works. I don’t know . . . .I don’t care . . . all I know is it was fabulous. In fact, it was so good that I ate all four servings at once as my dinner! The husband only got one bite! (Don’t feel too bad for him, he was eating leftover strawberry avocado salsa so he was happy J) I only wish I’d had a Viognier on hand to have with it – I expect this would be a fantastic pairing. I’ll have to give it a try some time soon . . . .
** Unfortunately Martha doesn’t post her recipes until at least a month after the mag has been on the shelves if she does at all (some sections just never get posted). So, if you want the recipes you’ll have to get your hands on the June edition.
UPDATE: Martha’s posted these June recipes online now. Click on the links below to get Martha’s summer side recipes.
