Edamame Guacamole

I LOVE guacamole. I love it so much I can't stop myself from eating all of it whenever I make any. Now, despite the fact that avocados are filled with healthy oils and great for your hair and nails, they are unfortunately filled with calories. Pair the guac with some salty and carb filled tortilla chips and you are looking at a pretty high calorie snack that provides little in the way of protein and fiber.

So, I decided it was time to devise a new way to enjoy the amazing deliciousness of guacamole. Enter edamame. As many of you know, edamame, a popular snack in Japan, is an incredible superfood. Filled with folic acid, potassium, vitamin C, iron, vitamin A, it is incredibly nutritious and filling. A one half cup serving has 9 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein in only 120 calories. A serving of edamame has as much iron as a chicken breast! Such a nutritional powerhouse is the perfect thing to add to guacamole to increase the nutrients while making one of my favorite treats a little healthier.

So try this as a snack or appetizer with some fresh cut veggies. I dipped radishes, pepper, carrots and cucumbers and it made for such a creamy and tasty veggie dip. Whole grain chips and crackers are also great dipping options. As a comparison, I calculated the nutrition info in my tradition guacamole recipe, which has 250 calories, 3 grams of protein, and 22 grams of fat per serving. My new edamame guacamole has 110 calories, 6.8 grams of protein and 6 grams of fat per serving. If you're a guacamole lover, you must try this soon!

Ingredients:
1 medium ripe avocado
1 cup shelled frozen edamame
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, washed
1 tsp chili powder
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno pepper, washed and seeded
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper

Step by Step Instructions:
1. In a medium saucepan, boil frozen edamame for 4-5 minutes, until bright green
2. Drain and set aside to cool
3. In a food processors, combine garlic, cilantro, chili powder, jalapeno, and lime juice and puree
4. Add cool edamame and puree until smooth
5. In a mixing bowl, add avocado flesh to edamame mixture, mixing thoroughly to combine
6. Season with salt, pepper and extra chili powder to taste
7. Serve immediately with chips and fresh veggies


Nutrition Info: Recipe yields 4 servings. Serving size is approximately 1/2 cup
110 Calories
6.3g Fat
296mg Sodium
5.3g Fiber
6.8g Protein