Three oranges + two avocados = ??

March 26, 2010 10:18 AM

I have three oranges and two avocados that were purchased two weeks ago. They look and feel OK but I'm sure they'll go bad soon. What can I do with them over the weekend (not necessarily together)? Assume EXTREMELY BASIC cooking skills. Other ingredients must be inexpensive.
posted by desjardins to food & drink (23 answers total)

Oh, and despite the lack of cooking skills, I currently have unlimited amounts of time to learn.
posted by desjardins at 10:20 AM on March 26, 2010

i suggest a salad: slice them up in some attractive way, sprinkle them with olive oil, some balsamic vinegar, a dash of pepper, bingo.
posted by holdenjordahl at 10:21 AM on March 26, 2010

You could juice the oranges and make a granita. Easy and tasty.

I'd assume the avocados have already gone bad, unless they were rock-hard when you bought them. If they're still OK, guacamole!
posted by Sweetie Darling at 10:25 AM on March 26, 2010

Orange and avocado is the basis for an awesome, easy, and very flexible salad. Slice both and arrange either directly on a plate or on a bed of baby greens/spinach/watercress/bibb lettuce. Pick one or more or these potential delicious additions: kalamata olives, red onion, feta cheese, goat cheese, roasted beets, toasted walnuts, basil, cilantro.

Top with a simple but fairly tangy vinaigrette (I like a bit of minced shallot, about 1/2 tsp dijon mustard, 1.5 tbl each lemon juice and red wine vinegar, 6-8 tbl olive oil, depending on taste, salt and pepper) or just a drizzle each of lemon juice and olive oil.

This rocks on it's own, or is delicious as a side dish to basically any kind of simple steak, chicken, or fish.
posted by mostlymartha at 10:25 AM on March 26, 2010 [4 favorites]

My favorite thing to do with avocados is to cut them up in slices, and eat them rolled up in a thick tortilla which has been slathered with hummus. Mmmmmmm.
posted by pazazygeek at 10:26 AM on March 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Two weeks is too long in the life of an avocado even if they started out rock hard (unless you have a nitrogen chamber, which few people have at home.) I suspect it will be very hard to tell them apart from an even older banana. Probably still eatable, but not what you really want from an avocado any more. The oranges were also better once long ago.

That said, why not just eat them? Why do you have to make them into something? Or add things? Eating (and cooking imho) is about ingredients. These are two great fruits that need not help. Dig in, (but next time use them sooner, please. I feel sorry for these poor old men that have lost so much of their vigor.)
posted by Some1 at 10:49 AM on March 26, 2010

Why would you just not eat the oranges? I eat about two every day.
posted by salvia at 11:14 AM on March 26, 2010

(asking honestly, not snarkily)
posted by salvia at 11:15 AM on March 26, 2010

Stage a Prokofiev Opera! The Love of Three Oranges (and Two Avacados)!
posted by Schmucko at 11:18 AM on March 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

I also recommend salad, with an additional tip: peel the orange slices out of their membranes and break them into bite-sized chunks. Do this whole process over and into a bowl so you don't lose any of the juice. Then, cut the avocados up and toss with the orange chunks. The acid from the citrus will keep the avocado from going brown if you don't eat the salad right away, and also adds enough flavor that you might not even need additional dressing. Put the avocado and orange mix on top of spinach or romaine lettuce or whatever you like, salt and pepper to taste. I make this all the time but with grapefruit - sooo good.
posted by illenion at 11:22 AM on March 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

The salsa in this recipe is amazing, and I'm sure a regular orange is a fine substitute: Mahi-Mahi with Blood Orange Avocado and Red Onion Salsa. I've been shilling this dish to everybody in my family, and everyone's giving it rave reviews. Our local store doesn't carry mahi-mahi, so I make it with ahi tuna or other suitable substitutes. Earlier this week, I served it with this side which also incorporates orange juice. I'd recommend using snow peas instead of snap peas and skipping the butter.
posted by halogen at 11:35 AM on March 26, 2010

salvia: "Why would you just not eat the oranges? I eat about two every day."

Because I am so seriously incompetent with food that I assumed I should make something with them.
posted by desjardins at 11:45 AM on March 26, 2010

Just eat the oranges. Or, if you feel absolutely compelled to 'make something', sprinkle the segments on a salad.

for the avocados, if they're still okay to eat, a vote for scooping them out and mushing it onto a piece of toast. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then eat it.

or, just slice or mush the avocados and add it to sandwiches. Everything tastes better with avocado.
posted by Kololo at 12:23 PM on March 26, 2010

Since your avocado is old, it probably won't be appealing to slice and eat in sandwiches, but it can make some great guacamole. Here's a simple recipe, and over-ripe avocados are fine for guac because you'll be kind of mulitating the slices taking the bad parts off, but since it gets mashed up you'll never notice.
Since you seem nervous about whether it's still food or not, I'll describe a past-prime but edible avocado to you, and you can see how yours compares and whether you want to eat it.
Slice it in half lengthwise, open it up and take a look. With any luck it's mostly shades of green. As a rule, flesh that's brown is not great for eating. Maybe you're seeing soft brown areas in a layer near the skin or at the stem end; that's the first to go. If there's not a nice-looking green part in the center that extends out to within 1/4" of the skin you haven't got a lot that's salvageable, you're kind of out of luck. Cut a piece in half crosswise. There are long thin thready fibers that go along the fruit from the stem end to the base; they're not very noticeable in a medium-ripe avocado, but as the fruit gets brown spots, those fibers get dark, and as the fruit gets softer, those fibers are stringier by comparison (or maybe they even thicken up?), so they get kind of obvious. Perfectly ripe ones you hardly see the threads at all. For over-ripe, when you look at a cross-cut piece, you'll see little brown spots that are the ends of those fibers. Maybe other people's opinions are different, but I don't mind eating that at all, I wouldn't bother trying to pull them out, though they won't blend into your mash perfectly.
Next step, separate the edible and inedible (or less-appealing) parts: remove the pit and the skin, and trim the brownish soft parts off (in fact, you can trim soft spots and skin together if you want). Proceed with the recipe I linked, and reduce the seasonings a little to account for the fact that you're not using a whole avocado.
posted by aimedwander at 12:54 PM on March 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Juggle.
posted by anapestic at 12:59 PM on March 26, 2010

Cut the avocado in half, lengthwise, and remove the pit. Score the flesh and pour in a little balsamic vinegar. Eat with a spoon.

Or smash them in a bowl with salsa and pig out.
posted by booth at 1:04 PM on March 26, 2010

Not only can you just eat the oranges straight, you can eat the avocados as they are (with a little salt and pepper, or maybe lemon juice.) Some people don't like it, but it's worth a taste.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 1:22 PM on March 26, 2010

Or, do what booth recommends, but with Worcestershire sauce instead. That's what i do. Yum!
posted by Kololo at 1:43 PM on March 26, 2010

Citrus and avocado? Make ice cream! You don't even need an ice cream maker. Super easy. You've got enough to make half a recipe.

And yes, orangejuice works just fine. I've done it several times. Just add a wee bit more juice, as orange isn't as strongly flavoured as the limes. You don't absolutely have to add zest if you want to skip that step, but it does add a lot of flavour.
posted by bonehead at 2:09 PM on March 26, 2010

Seconding Kololo's suggestion for avocado toast. In addition to salt and a few grinds of pepper, a squeeze of lemon over the top is divine. Using a nice crusty baguette or sourdough loaf is even better, though a store-bought whole wheat works fine.
posted by amusebuche at 2:30 PM on March 26, 2010

Get some chicken breasts. Pre-heat your oven to about the 350. Eat one of the oranges. Peel the other orange and arrange half the slices on and around the chicken. Put the bird and fruit combo in the oven. Juice the other half of the orange. Mash up the avocados with the orange juice and some salt. When the chicken is cooked, smear the chicken with the avocados. Put in mouth.

This would actually go good on some crackers, too. In fact. forget the chicken and go get some crackers; they're cheaper.
posted by Panjandrum at 2:35 PM on March 26, 2010

nthing guacamole if they're soft. If they're still sliceable and you don't want to deal with making guac, you can eat it on bread, as others have suggested.
For guacamole, you can often buy the veggies already pre-chopped at grocery stores if you live anywhere with even a decent Mexican food interest. If not, if you have a food processor, you could do the onions in that to save some knife work as well.
posted by ishotjr at 3:12 PM on March 26, 2010

Back in my pre-vege days I remember my mum making a chicken pie of sorts with spinach and filo pastry. It was dead easy to make, and the side salad was always sliced avocados (with lemon juice to prevent the browning) and oranges. The two fruits are a great combo.
posted by teststrip at 6:22 PM on March 26, 2010