Avocado Toast - Simplistic Decadence

If you know me, you know that I'm not always the first kid on the block to try something new. The smarter-than-me phones? Harry forced my iPhone 4s on me Labor Day, 2013. I only agreed because I drowned my flip phone the week before while fishing on Georgian Bay near Parry Sound, Ontario. I'm pretty happy with my phone now that I have it, but notice I have a 4s. Yes, there was a big release of the iPhone 6 a couple of months ago. So, still behind the times.

Given this, it should be no surprise that I had never heard of avocado toast until sometime after Labor Day, 2014. I came across an article via Yahoo Food explaining variations of avocado toast. I wondered "how can you modify something no one has ever heard of?" Apparently, I was quite wrong.

I could not name one thing wrong with the concept of avocado toast. I love avocado and don't eat it nearly often enough. Toast made from hearty, crusty bread? Sign me up. A drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper - maybe throw in a swipe of a garlic clove on the toast or a small squeeze of lemon or lime juice and I can't find anything to complain about.

I became slightly obsessed. For several weeks, avocado toast was my Monday lunch. A smoothie instead of cereal or oatmeal for breakfast to allow myself the toast for lunch. I learned that if I was at the store on Saturday, I could buy an under-ripe avocado and it would be perfectly ripe by Monday's lunchtime.

Then, the unthinkable happened. For a few weeks, every avocado was too ripe on Saturday. Maybe because it was the height of college football season and everyone wanted guacamole for the game. Or, was it because everyone else in central Ohio had read the article on Yahoo and decided they wanted to jump on the bandwagon?

I fell into a funk. I would pack my lunch with a sigh and resigned myself to waiting for avocado toast until Cinco de Mayo.

Then, last Saturday, a miracle of sorts occurred. We were getting our groceries on Saturday morning and there it was. The perfectly under-ripened small avocado. I saw the green showing through the flesh and I knew.

It was meant to be.

We already had crusty bread on our shopping list because we were having steak on the grill Sunday and I wanted bruschetta. We can't possibly eat a whole loaf of crusty bread during one meal, so I needed to plan a few other things to use it for.

Avocado toast. Only I didn't eat it for lunch on Monday.

Toast IS a breakfast food, after all.