Avocado-Oh No! The BEST Salad!

Accidents in the kitchen are not a surprise, especially when you’re KitchAnnette (haha). A little burn here, a little nick there… no big whoop. Well I made up for a lifetime of “not much” just over a week ago with one little avocado. YEAH, an avocado!

Here’s how it went down… I was making an amazing salad (see below), courtesy of the very amazing London-based Michael Gray, who I found conducting a 21-Day nutrition and fitness program in a closed group on Facebook and who just launched his new site to get people healthy and fit, Mr. Gray Fitness.

It was time to cut the avocado, which is an easy task but always one I’m very careful about. After cutting it and twisting the 2 halves apart, it was time to remove the hard, slippery pit, which is where trouble can (and did) occur. If it doesn’t come out easily with a spoon, I’ve seen people use a sharp knife to whack at the pit vertically and then turn the knife to remove. I think this is a dangerous approach where the knife can easily slip to the side. My method has been to very gently and carefully insert the tip of the knife into the center of the pit until it’s secure, then twist the knife to remove it. In this instance, the pit was not the usual hard solid mass. It was “hollow” – it just crumbled apart with the slightest bit of the knife tip – and that sent the knife through the pit, avocado, and well… my poor finger! Finger in the air above my heart, 911, amazing Tuckahoe NY police, firemen, and EMS arrived in a flash to get me to nearby Lawrence Hospital (I was modestly dramatic, I admit). Turns out Dr. D’Angelo, who had the task of sewing me up, was not only very skilled and gentle as I received 14 stitches in my finger, but it turns out we knew the same people from the Bronx! Small world.

Upon arriving home after such a surreal ordeal, what does a true “KitchAnnette-ista” do? You guessed it, I finished making the salad being mindful of my new lovely wrapped paw!

Now I’ll share my version of Michael Gray’s salad. Do check out his site! This salad is phenomenal.