Avocado boats make a simply perfect handheld dinner

It’s a meal we all know well. The kids are away at slumber parties. Or you’re divorced, and it’s their night with their dad. Or you don’t have kids, and your partner is working late. Or you’re single. It’s the Alone Meal, and too often it means a bowl of cereal. But what if you cut open a creamy, ripe avocado and filled it with protein-packed pulses? You would feel well fed, that’s what.

More:Pulses: 15 game-changing ways to eat the food of the year

Here are three incredibly easy avocado boat recipes from Pulse Pledge and Nutrition Stripped.

Avocado boats, three ways

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 10 minutes | Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Sesame cabbage

• 1/2 head red cabbage
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Nama shoyu sauce

Spicy black bean

• 2 cups black beans
• 1/4 cup organic salsa of your choice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)

Curry chickpea

• 2 cups chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon curry seasoning blend
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Optional garnishes for all flavors: fresh herbs (like cilantro, chive or parsley), fresh lime juice.

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Directions:

Sesame cabbage

1. Add all the ingredients to a medium-hot skillet, and cook until tender and soft, about 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Spicy black bean

1. Add all the ingredients to a medium-hot skillet, and cook until warm. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Curry chickpea

1. Add all the ingredients to a medium-hot skillet, and cook until the chickpeas’ skins are firm and slightly crisp. Adjust seasonings to taste.

To assemble

1. Halve each avocado (1 avocado per serving), remove the pits, gently remove the avocado flesh from the skin, and place in a small mixing bowl.
2. Combine the avocado flesh with 1/3 cup of whichever filling you’d like to use, and stir to combine. Use this filling to fill the avocado skin. Serve immediately.
3. Store leftover fillings only in an airtight glass container, and open the avocados only when you’re immediately serving.

Pledge to eat pulses once a week for 10 weeks, and enter for a chance to win a $100 gift card at Pulse Pledge.

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