It was late, the streets of Manhattan were dark, but knew I was not alone. I could feel a light mist on my face as I walked and chills went down my spine… I found myself quietly stepping into a grocery store near the train stop I had just emerged from, and as I passed through the electric swinging door I heard screams… I stopped. My heart raced and I knew my help was needed. I plunged deeper into the store and frantically searched, looking down each aisle to see if I could find where the screams were coming from. Not the snack aisle, not in the frozen aisle, not with the dairy. I could hear it getting louder as I neared the produce… I knew I was almost upon the disaster, as I was passing the sweet potatoes I knew I was running out of time. I had to make it! I passed the limes and then I looked down. There it was. A perfectly plump, dark green avocado screaming for someone to take it home and eat it! It had a “ready to eat” sticker on it and we both knew he was in his last hours. I gripped the little guy gently in my hand and gave him a little squeeze. For me, the squeeze was a check, I wanted to make sure he wasn’t lying, for him, it was the grip of comfort for he knew, tonight was his night.

Let’s be honest, all avocados dream of being turned into Avocado Toast… It’s the highest honor an avocado can have!

So Avocado Toast is on the menu of every brunch place in NYC these days… If you’re sitting down at a restaurant to eat it for brunch, you’ll pay between $17-$32 for it… and they can get very fancy, but honestly, it’s SO easy to whip up a very filling, delicious piece of “Avo-Toa” (as I like to call it) and it doesn’t have to cost that  much 🙂

The best part about it (after the TASTE) is that it’s so pretty and artsy and you get to figure out how you want it to look. Plate it up and your friends will be getting their phones out to take pics. You made them feel special with this beautiful, easy food, now they are telling the social media world how special they are because they’re eating pretty food that tastes good *wink* (and they didn’t pay for it).  I hardly dare to order it when I’m out because it seems just O-O-C (Out Of Control) to pay more than $9 for Avo-Tao.

Here are a few of my favorites that I’ve made…

Basil Avocado Burrata:
A slice of baguette, a basil leaf (or two), a spread of burrata cheese, two strawberries and a slice of avo on top (or on the bottom like in the larger picture). Once it’s assembled, drizzle a balsamic glaze (really easy to make!) over the top!  This version is a bit more over the top and takes a little extra concentration (the first time I made it, I literally forgot the AVOCADO because I was so caught up in getting it all right… and also because I’m a total airhead when food starts looking sexy… It was causing me to stumble!!).

Pico de Avo: I made this homemade pico because I love the idea of pico and avo, but I don’t love tomatoes, so this one doesn’t have tomatoes… how did I make sure it had yummy juice??? See caption below 😉

Easy Avo & Strawberry (GF): 

Avo on Sour Dough:
Sour Dough bread, toasted and spread lightly with butter and then raspberry jam, lay the avocado slices on top and then slice a boiled egg and arrange on top. Top with a little salt and paprika. This one is one of the quickest toasts to make but still have it appear as though it took forever and you really invested. I made this at work in about five minutes (the boiled egg was from a deli) and it’s super yummy and has a bit more protein than the others because of the egg 🙂 – in hindsight, I think I would like to try this one without the jam, and with a drizzle of olive oil.

Sneak Attack Sour Dough:
This is literally the easiest thing in the world to do (also made at work on my lunch in five minutes). Sour dough bread toasted and spread lightly with butter and raspberry jam (don’t leave the jam off on this one), lay the avo slices on top and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. It seems a little weird at first. I had my coworkers try it, skeptical but curious they took a bite and grinned… it’s so yummy! Make this for your friends and the words out of their mouth will be “mmff…. ohm. omg, you should be a chef”. Something about these flavors just explode and blend so well! Eat up!

Avo-Party in Your Mouth: 

Wait… omg! What are you supposed to do when you run out of avocados???

No Avo Freak Out:

So those are my favorites out of the toasts I’ve made. I LOVE avocado toast because there is so much creativity. If you make any of these, let me know… I also totally think you should throw your own spin on it… Don’t like jam and eggs?… leave the jam off! Burrata is too exotic? Use a slice of Gouda (that’s great too, I’ve tried it! It’s also way more affordable and goes father)! Really the possibilities are endless.  Let me know what you think and I’d love to hear about your top Avo-Toast experiences! What have you tried? What have you made? Let me know 🙂

P.S. How to tell if an avocado is ready for you to slice into it? The little nub on the end comes off with just a little push, or/and when you gently squeeze it, there is just a little softness. You usually have about a five day window of when the avo is ready! Think almost like a kiwi.