Aussie chef Bill Granger is widely credited for bringing avocado toast to the world. These days, it seems like every chef and cook has their own version. (Who could forget the backlash towards Nigella Lawson when she prepared a smashed avocado recipe on her show Simply Nigella?) This take, by US cookbook author Erin Alderson, is made with spices tempered in avocado oil, which brightly contrast with the buttery avocado.
“As a millennial Californian, I’m obligated to include an avocado toast recipe,” she writes. “Avocado toasts can be served for breakfast, lunch and occasionally dinner. Using a tadka [tempered spices] is a quick way to add bold flavour to the toast, while the microgreens are my way of making this just a bit extra (they are completely optional). Finally, I like serving with a few pickled items on the side to act as a bit of an interlude between bites of the buttery avocado.”
The dish is from Alderson’s newly released cookbook The Yearlong Pantry, which stars a series of recipes that are both vegetarian and celebrate the cornucopia of ingredients you can find and store in your pantry: kale and bulgur fritters with chipotle sauce, ginger-rhubarb amaranth porridge, and lentil croquettes with za’atar and labne.
Alderson also shares a tip for storing avocado halves.
“Store the avocado half with the pit in the refrigerator with nothing covering it,” she writes. “Then, when you are ready to use it, simply slice off the thin layer of browned flesh. You don’t need any fancy tips or tricks.
“Also, store your avocados in the refrigerator just as they turn ripe. I buy avocados on the firm side and check them each morning. The second I feel any give when I gently, and I do mean gently, squeeze, they go in the refrigerator. I swear by this method and unless the avocados are lost in the refrigerator, I rarely have one go bad.”
Erin Alderson’s avocado toast with cumin-chilli tadka
Makes 4 toasts
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
2 tbsp avocado oil or butter
4 thick slices wholegrain bread
2 large ripe avocados
Microgreens, to serve
Pickles of your choice (cauliflower, beets, carrots, and radish make great choices), to serve
CUMIN-CHILLI TADKA
120ml avocado oil
4 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 heaped tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp medium-heat chilli powder
1 tsp kosher salt (sea salt or non-iodised salt)
Method
To make the toast, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the bread and toast until each side is golden and crisp, 1–2 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Thinly slice the avocado. Use a spoon to scoop the flesh from the skin. Fan half on each slice of toast.
For the cumin-chilli tadka, heat the avocado oil over medium heat in the same medium skillet from before until it begins to shimmer, 1–2 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander seeds and cook for 45 to 60 seconds, until fragrant and browning. Watch closely as they can burn quickly. Remove the pan from the heat and add the minced garlic, lemon zest, chilli powder and salt. Swirl to combine and immediately spoon over the avocado toast.
Finish the toast with microgreens and serve with your choice of pickles on the side.
This is an edited extract from The Yearlong Pantry: Bright, Bold Vegetarian Recipes to Transform Everyday Staples by Erin Alderson. Published by Hardie Grant Books, available in stores nationally from October 22, 2024. Photography by Erin Scott.
