If you love Avocado, you’re in for an amazing adventure this week. The Virtual Potluck team has partnered up with SoCal Avocados to bring you some amazing dishes featuring the smooth, creamy, farm-fresh avocado.

To appreciate what you’re about to be presented with, an avocado tutorial is in order.

First, some interesting health facts. At first glance, the calories look daunting with 384 per cup, but it’s important to know that it’s mostly monoinsaturated fat (popularly referred to as “good fat”) which has been shown in studies to lower bad cholesterol and, in some cases, raise good cholesterol.

Another interesting fact that I learned is that the avocado’s don’t really ripen unitl after they’re picked. That means that the SoCal farmers leave them on the tree until your order is ready. Then you receive a box full of nice firm avocados. Place a few in a brown paper bag and they’ll be ripe and ready to go in no time.

Finally, a little bit about the current in season varieties:

Bacon: A lighter taste with a yellow/green color. Smooth thin green skin. Large seed. Peels easily. Average weight is 10 to 18 ounces. Ripe when yields slightly to pressure. Originated in Buena Park, California by James Bacon. Introduced in 1951.

Haas: Hass Avocados have a wonderful rich, buttery, nutty flavor. Grown year round, ships and stores well. Thick skin turns from green to a purplish black when ripe. Flesh is pale green with a creamy texture. Oval shaped fruit from 5 to 14 ounces. Medium seed size. Peels easily.

Pinkerton: This variety looks like a long pear with pebbly green skin. The skin darkens when the fruit is ripe. The flesh is a creamy pale green with a small seed. This avocado is available winter through spring.

Fuerte: Great taste. Creamy pale green flesh. Picked November through March. Smooth skin with medium thickness. Medium seed size. Peels easily. Pear shaped weighing 9 to 16 ounces. Ripe when yields to slight pressure. Skin is green when ripe.

Be sure to Check out SoCal’s website for more information on all the varieties they have. Also, be sure to check out their Avocado of the Month club. I mean, how can you go wrong with getting fresh avocados on your porch every month?

Other than just being able to slice up and eat avocados plain, there is so much that you can do with them! We made some awesome guacamole, mexican casserole and I even breaded and deep fried some wedges. Be sure to check out our host blog to see what everyone else has come up with today!

The recipe I want to share with you today though is an Avocado Egg Roll. I loved the crispy shell that gives way to the creamy chucnks of avocado and sun dried tomatoes. So easy to make and they were the perfect party food.

I know you want to make some of these for yourself but you need some avocados right? Well, go check out SoCal Avocados site and leave me a comment with your favorite variety. I’ll pick a winner that will receive 12 avocados fresh from the farm!

For extra entries (leave a separate comment for each)

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Avocado Egg Rolls with Cilantro Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

+Egg Roll

1 large avocado, peeled, pitted; diced
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
1 tablespoon minced red onion
1/2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 pinch salt
3 egg roll wraps
1 egg, beaten

+Dipping Sauce

3 -4 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves
2 green onions
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

+Egg Rolls

Gently stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, 1/2 teaspoon cilantro, and salt.

Distribute filling evenly onto center of each egg roll wrapper.

Position a wrapper so that a corner is pointing toward you; fold the bottom corner up, 1/4 of the way over the filling.

Brush remaining corners and edges of the wrapper with egg, roll up from side to side, fold top corner over all and press to seal.

Repeat with remaining wrappers.

Continue by deep-frying the egg rolls in 375 degree oil for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels.

Slice egg rolls diagonally across middle and serve with prepared dipping sauce.

+Dipping Sauce

Stir together vinegars and honey in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 1 minute.

In a blender, Puree vinegar mixture, 2/3 cup cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper, and cumin.

Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in oil. Refrigerate until ready to use.

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Foodplayer Linda

I am sure you love food. Otherwise, you won’t be here. As a full-time and a part-time chef at a local restaurant, I know my way around food. Ever since I was a young girl, I enjoyed helping my mom in the kitchen.

We would often experiment with the spices, ingredients, and flavors and create great meals for my brothers and dad. Since cocking was my first passion, I decided to go in that direction. I finished culinary school, got my first job, and started developing my skills.

Later when kids came, I had all the liberty in the kitchen to combine some of the unique flavors. A lot of them were a success, but now and there I would make a couple of mistakes.