Are you intimidated by how to prepare an avocado for use in a recipe? Click here to find out the best way to deal with avocados in the kitchen.
In our recipe for Turkey Cobb Salad, you'll want to use an avocado that is ripe but not mushy to the touch. It should yield when you apply gentle pressure with your fingers. An unripe avocado will generally take between 3 or 4 days to ripen. An easy way to ripen an avocado is to place it in a brown paper lunch bag and keep it at room temperature, away from direct sunlight or heat. Once an avocado has ripened, you can prevent it from becoming overripe by storing it in the refrigerator. The chill of the refrigerator will slow down the ripening process for a few days.
Sometimes people avoid using avocados simply because they don't know how to prepare them for a recipe. The process is actually simple. To seed an avocado, cut lengthwise through the fruit and around the seed. With your hands, gently twist the two halves in opposite directions from one another to separate them. Carefully tap the seed with the blade of a sharp knife so that it catches in the seed. Rotate the knife a quarter-turn to loosen the seed from the flesh. Lift the knife up and the seed should come out of the flesh still attached to the knife. To remove the peel, gently pull it off using your fingertips or the tip of a knife. Then, slice the avocado or cube it according to your recipe.
