Having a disease like ulcerative colitis means that I am constantly having ups and downs. I have not found a constant state of remission like some have. I typically go symptom free for a month and then see some symptoms sneaking back in. While there is no way for me to know what causes my “flares”, I am almost positive they are due to stress. I have been in college and graduate school for the entire time I’ve had this disease, and it always seems to worsen around exam time. The last time I had symptoms was before I left for Spring Break when I had an exam, 2 presentations, and multiple papers due. And now, with another exam on the horizon for next week, I’m experiencing symptoms again. Stress does incredible things to our bodies, whether you have a disease like I do or not. My body simply TELLS me when I’m over-stressed through my symptoms.
Anyway, the whole point of this story is to tell you all that I’ve been eating pretty “plain.” I typically prefer simple, easy food anyway, so there are no complaints here. But sometimes I want to feel special, like I’m treating myself to something extra good. And when I am stressed and have to avoid nuts, chocolate, etc… treating myself can be tricky. One of the things I do that helps tremendously is to make my food look pretty. Instead of reaching for the nut butter a few weeks ago, I decided to experiment with making an avocado rose, and I’ve been doing it pretty much every day since. Making avocado roses makes me feel special. I feel good when I pull out my lunch around my friends at school and they all think I’m some sort of gourmet chef-wizard. I feel good eating something beautiful and special. And believe it or not, I actually think cutting up an avocado this way makes them extra delicious (call me crazy).
I’ve had lots of friends and followers ask how I create these roses, and it is SO EASY. I figured I would put together a little tutorial so you all can make creations that make YOU feel special, too.
STEP ONE:
Cut your avocado in half. You will only need to use 1 of the halves to create your rose.
STEP TWO:
Peel the skin off of the avocado. Do this slowly and carefully, making sure to keep the avocado intact.
STEP THREE:
Place the avocado down on a large, slippery surface. I use a large plate when I make these, but a cutting board that doesn’t have a ton of cuts in it would work too. Use a sharp knife to slice the avocado all the way through. You can do this either horiontally or vertically. I’ve done it both ways. If you slice horizontally, you will get more a swirl. If you slice vertically, you will get more of a rose.
Horizontal slices!
STEP FOUR:
Using your hands, pinch the avocado, fanning it out into a long line. The more space you have between each avocado slice, the prettier and more rose-like your final product will be.
To be honest, I would try to space your avocado out even more than I did in this photo. The avocado I used for these photos was a bit too ripe, so I couldn’t space it out much more without it falling apart. Fan out your slices as much as you can without it falling into mush!
STEP FIVE:
Swirl it up! Start the the top with your smallest avo slice and start curling it in. Then keep going until you have your rose/swirl!
STEP SIX:
If you aren’t eating your avocado right away, I recommend squeezing it with some lemon. Not only are avocado and lemon a match made in heaven, but the citrus from the lemon will keep your avocado nice and green until you eat it!
STEP SEVEN:
Sprinkle your masterpiece with some pink sea salt and enjoy!
Avocado swirl resulting from horizontal slices
Avocado rose resulting from vertical slices
