Avocado Ice Cream

I have recently rediscovered my love for avocados. This jewel of a fruit (yes, it's a fruit!) is loaded with vitamins, cancer-fighting compounds, and cholesterol-lowering fat. Most importantly, it tastes soooo goood and it's super versatile. Of course, it's all over South American cuisine, since it did originate from Mexico. But you can also enjoy it in sushi, with soy sauce, or even in a milkshake!

Did you know that an avocado has more potassium than a medium-sized banana? Or that in controlled experiments, people with high triglyceride or cholesterol levels put on an avocado-enriched diet saw a 22% reduction in their LDL-cholesterol (bad cholesterol), a 22% reduction in their triglyceride levels, and an 11% increase in their HDL-cholesterol (good cholesterol)?

Furthermore, studies seem to indicate that avocado extract, when put in the presence of prostate cancer cells, caused cell-cycle arrest in the cancer cells, essentially reducing their ability to proliferate.

Finally, avocados even help your body absorb other fat-soluble nutrients better. In fact, a study at the Ohio State University demonstrated that adding avocados to your salad greatly increased your absorption of caretenoids (linked to lower instances of cancer) from other vegetables in the salad.

If the fat in avocados are so good for you, why not replace bad fat in recipes with avocado fat?

That's exactly what this (relatively) healthy yet delectably rich ice cream recipe does.

About 75% of an avocado's calories come from fat, most of which is monounsaturated fat. As I mentioned earlier, this "good fat" lowers total cholesterol (17%) in people who have high cholesterol. The beauty of this recipe is that, it hardly uses any cream. A large chunk of the fat is good fat.

Maybe the idea of having avocados as a dessert sounds a bit strange to you. I would recommend giving it a try. It's surprisingly smooth, creamy, and really really good.

Avocado Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

3 avocados (preferably Hass)
¾ cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
½ cup heavy cream
1 T freshly squeezed lime juice
Big pinch of salt

Cut open the avocados, remove the pits, and scoop out the flesh. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Freeze in your favorite ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

If you like softer ice cream, you can serve this right away. Otherwise, I would recommend putting it in the freezer and letting it harden (for at least 2 hours) before serving.