Chunky Avocado Toast

Hello again foodies!

Firstly, I'm SORRY. I know it's been HALF A YEAR since my last post. I am a useless, inconsiderate, irresponsible food blogger :(

By way of explanation, since my post in June 2012 it's been an incredibly busy summer of long rehearsals to dance in the London Olympics closing ceremony, after which I flew straight back to New York to launch into a busy second year. September to November were two stressful months spent juggling school with apartment hunting, followed by the slog of packing, renting a U-Haul truck, and slogging across town with heavy furniture when we finally found one. This trend of most apartments coming unfurnished in NYC? Really not a fan.

ANYWAY, now that I'm finally settled in a little cosy home in Harlem and am on winter break, hello!

Now on to the dish at hand. My fiance Ari, a self-confessed avocado hater before tasting this at the lovely Leather Lane branch of Prufrock Coffee in London, made the following for me in no time at all earlier today. 

Four ingredients, a few minutes and voila: a delectable combination of creamy avocado, crunchy buttery toast, refreshing lime juice, hints of spice and salt to bring it all together. The easiest, yummiest brunch ever!

Chunky Avocado Toast

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 slices wholegrain bread

Butter

1 large ripe avocado (you know it's ripe if it's soft enough to yield to pressure)

Half a lime

Salt

Chilli flakes, or red pepper flakes, or torn up dried chillies

Toast and butter the bread.

Slice up the avocado and pile equally on each slice of toast. *If you are an avocado virgin, please see "Easy Twisty Way of Cutting an Avocado" below. 

Top each slice with a generous squeeze of lime juice. Sprinkle with salt and chilli flakes.

Stuffyourfacenomnomnom!

Easy Twisty Way of Cutting An Avocado

Cut lengthwise all the way around (working around the seed) and twist the two halves apart.

Tap the blade of your knife so that it's wedged into the seed, and twist to remove.

Score the avocado into strips with your knife.
Spoon the flesh out with a spoon.

Low-Carb Almond Pancakes (Gluten-Free)

SAM TAN'S KITCHEN HAS MOVED! Please visit the new website/online store at www.samtanskitchen.com. You can also follow Sam on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Thank you!

OMG, what an amazing, delicious discovery. These are so incredibly simple to make, easily adapted to be sweet or savoury and so tasty I actually prefer them to regular carb-laden pancakes!

Ground almonds, thou art my new best friend.

Low-Carb Almond Pancakes (Gluten-Free)

*makes 6 small fluffy pancakes (about 4"), or 3-4 large thin ones

Combine all in a large bowl and stir briskly to form a batter:

2 cups (about 150-200g) ground almonds

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1 tsp olive oil

1 or 2 tsp sweetener (depending on preference)

Salt to taste

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add about 1 tsp of olive oil or just enough to swirl and lightly coat the base of the pan.

Pour in batter one small ladle at a time (if making large thin ones, spread batter out with back of ladle). Fry for about 1 minute or until bubbles start appearing on the top, then flip to cook the other side. Repeat until all batter is finished, adding more olive oil in between pancakes if necessary.

Serve immediately with whatever you want (I had it with fruit one morning and leftover curried lentils one night, both yum!)

*Other healthy low-carb ingredients you can chuck into your batter: cottage cheese, vanilla extract or other essences, lemon or orange juice/ zest, cinnamon/other spices of choice, unsweetened cocoa powder, chopped chives/other herbs of choice, chopped nuts, poppy seeds... or even crushed bacon bits if you're not concerned with fat :)