Tag Archives: avocado

Recipe: BLT Avocado Wraps and Pecans

paleobetic diet, paleo diet for diabetics

Ready to roll up and eat

BLT = bacon, lettuce, and tomato.

As I’ve written before, bacon isn’t a pure paleo food. Cavemen didn’t eat it. It’s too highly processed. You could make your own if you want. But bacon is convenient and no doubt better for you—at least if you have diabetes—than many of our traditional breakfast foods like cereal with milk, pancakes, instant oatmeal, bagels, or donuts. Those could shoot your blood sugar up to the moon.

Some studies link processed meats with cardiovascular disease and cancer, other studies don’t. If you want to be cautious with your health, don’t go hog-wild with bacon or other processed meats like hot dogs, bologna, and liverwurst.

Avocados come in hundreds of varieties. In the U.S., we mainly have California avocados (aka Hass) and Florida avocados. Californians are by far the market leader. They reign at the Parker Compound.

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California or Hass avocado

paleobetic diet, paleo diet for diabetes

Florida avocado

California avocados are smaller dark green lumpy-skinned ones. Florida avocados are larger, smoother-skinned, and lighter green. Monica Reinagel has an article comparing the two, with notes on ripening and storage.

Oh, and by the way, avocados are fruits, not vegetables. But you knew that, you smartie.

Ingredients:

1 California (Hass) avocado, raw, medium size (about 4 x 2.5 inches or 10 x 6 cm), peeled and seeded, cut into long strips

6 bacon strips, medium thickness

4 oz (115 g) lettuce (e.g., iceberg, romaine, bibb, or broad-leaf lettuce you prefer)

4 oz (115 g) tomato, raw (this is about one-and-a half roma tomatoes or one medium regular tomato), cut into long strips

1 oz (30 g) pecans (option: substitute your favorite tree nut except for cashews—too many carbs)

Instructions:

Fry your bacon in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Next you’re gong to build two wraps. Lay out about two oz (  g) of lettuce and load it with three bacon strips, half your tomato, and half your avocado. Fold or wrap lettuce edges together and enjoy. Repeat with remaining ingredients. The pecans are for dessert.

paleobetic diet, paleo diet for diabetes

Our vicious guard dogs waiting for bacon

Number of Servings: 1 (that’s 2 wraps plus nuts)

Nutritional Analysis:

74% fat

12% carbohydrate

14% protein

720 calories

24 g carbohydrate

15 g fiber

9 g digestible carbohydrate

1137 mg sodium

1507 mg potassium

Prominent features: Good source of fiber, sodium, protein, vitamin B6, niacin, thiamine, pantothenic acid, copper, manganese, phosphorus, and selenium.

Recipe: Mexican Eggs and Avocado Slices

Steve Parker MD, paleo diet, low-carb dietMy family loves the pico de gallo over these fried eggs. If you don’t want to make a batch of the pico de gallo, substitute an amount of commercial picante sauce that provides no more than three grams of digestible carbohydrate. “Digestible carbohydrate” is the total carb grams of a serving, minus the fiber grams.

Ingredients:

  • eggs, three large
  • tomato, fresh, 2 oz (60 g)
  • onion, fresh 3/4 oz (20 g)
  • jalapeño pepper, fresh, 1/4 of a pepper
  • cilantro, fresh, 3–4 sprigs chopped finely to supply 1 tbsp (15 ml)
  • olive oil, 2 tsp (10 ml)
  • California avocado, 1 whole (these are the dark green or black avocados, usually 4 x 2.5 inches or 10 x 5 cm)
  • salt, to taste (1/4 tsp?)
  • black pepper to taste (1/4 tsp?)

Instructions:

Make the pico de gallo first. Finely chop and blend together the tomato, onion, jalapeño pepper, cilantro, some of the salt and pepper to taste.

paleo diet, Steve Parker MD, pico de gallo

We chop our pico de gallo more finely than this

Peel and slice the avocado. Salt and pepper to taste.

Fry the eggs in an olive oil-coated pan.  Salt and pepper to taste. When done, transfer to a plate and spoon the pico de gallo onto the eggs. Enjoy with avocado slices on the side.

At our house, we usually make enough pico for left-overs. It lasts a few days in the refrigerator.

Servings: 1

Nutritional Analysis:

  • 72% fat
  • 13% carbohydrate
  • 15% protein
  • 592 calories
  • 20.4 g carb
  • 12.8 g fiber
  • 7.6 g digestible carb
  • 810 mg sodium (if you use a total of 1/4 tsp)
  • 1,237 mg potassium
  • Prominent features: rich in B12, copper, iron, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, and selenium

Hamburger and Avocado Salad

Hamburger-Avocado Salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, salt/pepper, and olive oil vinaigrette

This was an OK dinner.  My wife didn’t care for it, which may explain why don’t see anything similar on typical restaurant menus.  You see salads with chicken, salmon, or steak strips, usually.  Hamburger’s just not an ideal pairing with the other flavors, I guess. I dressed it with the left-over olive oil vinaigrette I made yesterday.

-Steve