Entertain at home: Three delicious avocado braai sides

Avo, garlic and cheese bread

Serves 12

You’ll need: 1 loaf sourdough bread; 2 ripe avocados, peeled and halved lengthways; 1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; juice and zest of 1 lemon; ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese; ½ cup grated cheddar cheese; salt and pepper to season

How to:

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Using a sharp knife, deeply cut the bread into a honeycomb pattern (don’t cut through to the base of the loaf).

Scoop avocado flesh into a bowl and add oil, garlic, lemon juice and zest and seasoning, lightly mash with a fork to combine.

Gently ease bread open and spoon avocado mixture into the loaf.

Repeat using cheese.

Place the loaf onto a large sheet of foil and wrap loosely. Place on a baking tray and bake for 12 minutes.

Uncover and bake for a further 8-10 minutes until hot and golden. Serve immediately.

Grilled sweetcorn with spicy avo cream

Serves 4

You’ll need: 4 sweetcorn, steamed or grilled on a braai; jalapeño pepper, sliced (optional); fresh coriander, chopped; lemon or lime wedges to serve.

For the spicy avocado cream: 2 large ripe avocados, peeled and pitted; 1 cup low-fat yoghurt; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; juice from 2 limes; big pinch smoked paprika powder; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; big pinch chilli flakes (optional).

How to:

Make the avocado cream – place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, for a thinner consistency add a little cold water.

To serve, drizzle the avocado cream over the hot sweetcorn.

Garnish with jalapeño, fresh coriander and lemon wedges.

Eggless avo potato salad with avo-nnaise

Serves 4-6

You’ll need: For the avo-nnaise – 2 avocados, peeled and chopped; 50ml avocado oil; 1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard; 1 tsp crushed garlic; 1 lemon, juiced and zest; pinch of sea salt; freshly ground black pepper

For the potato salad – 500g peeled new potatoes, cooked and roughly chopped; 1 large avocado, roughly chopped; chopped chives to garnish; freshly ground black pepper to garnish

How to:

To make the avo-nnaise – place all the ingredients in a jug and blend with a stick blender until smooth and pourable. Add a couple of teaspoons of cold water if necessary, to reach a pourable consistency.

To assemble the salad, combine all the ingredients in a bowl, and stir through a couple of tablespoons of avo-nnaise until the potatoes are well coated.

Spoon the salad into a bowl and garnish with roughly chopped avocado, chopped chives and freshly ground black pepper.

* Recipes & images by The South African Avocado Growers’ Association.