Sinless Guacamole (Vegan, Paleo)

In the past, I was never one for avocados.

You know how you can be kind of narrow-minded and limited in your food choices when you're young? Anything under the heading 'vegetable' is pretty much out, unless it's peas and only because they're sweet.

That intolerant mind-set simultaneously eliminates anything that's green as well, including avocados.

I was trying to remember when I started to actually enjoy avocados, and, though I'm not entirely certain this is the moment, one of the first recipes I recall loving was my mom's avocado dip.

My mom is NOT an avid cook or baker of any kind, but somehow, she occasionally manages to come up with an awesome recipe.

For instance, she has these totally sugar-free cream of wheat pancakes that are killer! Both my girls love them, but because they contain wheat, Jadie gets a bit itchy, which stinks!

My mom has a really informal way of cooking, in that she doesn't really measure ingredients, so if ever I ask for a recipe, it kind of goes like this:

Me: Mom, these pancakes are really good, how did you make them?

Mom: Mmm, about half a bowl of cream of wheat, a spoonful of baking soda and salt, and then I add milk and water until it looks like this (motions to bowl).

Um, thanks.

This approach wouldn't be entirely counterintuitive, EXCEPT that she applies it to baking as well (and then wonders why her baked goods never 'turn out').

God love her though, she got me liking avocados!...(I think). 🙂

With the Super Bowl approaching this Sunday, I figured a lightened up guacamole might be something you'd enjoy!

Though I'm not one for football, I am a fan of food, which there's usually quite a bit of on this festive day!

This skinnier version of the classic dip cuts the fat of the avocados by using zucchini, giving you a lower calorie, lower fat recipe that you can enjoy with a little less guilt and more gusto!

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Sinless Guacamole (Vegan, Paleo)

Calories: 265kcal

Author: Lauren Goslin

Ingredients

• 2 medium zucchini peeled and grated
• 2 avocados
• 2 T. lime juice
• ¼ t. sea salt
• ¼ t. black pepper
• ¼ c. red onion minced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 T. cilantro minced
• 6 cherry tomatoes diced
• a few dashes of hot sauce to taste

Instructions

• Set the grated zucchini in a sieve and sprinkle it with about 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt.
• Mix it about a bit with your hand to distribute the salt.
• Let the zucchini sweat for about 10-15 minutes.
• Place the zucchini in a clean dish towel and squeeze as much water as possible out.
• At this point, you can either puree the zucchini in a food processor first or just mash it directly with the avocados (I just mash it in).
• Gently stir in the remaining ingredients, adding hot sauce to taste.
• Serve!

Notes

WW points (new system): 7

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Sodium: 147mg | Sugar: 7.7g | Fiber: 10.7g | Calories: 265kcal | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 4.2g | Fat: 20.2g | Protein: 5g | Carbohydrates: 22.1g

Adapted from this recipe

Interesting to note are the nutritional facts with the zucchini verses without (in other words, using more avocado):

ZUCCHINI VERSION                                               NON-ZUCCHINI VERSION

CALORIES                                              265                                                                                   454

FAT                                                         20.2 g                                                                               39.6 g

Pretty good savings, AND I personally can't even detect the zucchini!

Do you watch the Super Bowl?