National Avocado Day - Recipe Videos and a Review

God, how I love avocados. My last bite on earth would be a simple slice of creamy Haas avocado.

This is a most delicious blog post you will want to bookmark for future viewing. And click on any recipe name to see all the original recipe photos and text.

July 31 is National Avocado Day, and I have a ripe basketful of recipes for you to use this most luscious and rich fruit.

The creamiest and richest Avocado, the Haas, was first grafted from a single tree here in La Habra Heights in Los Angeles County almost 100 years ago. Read about the origin story here. And if you need a reminder on how to tell when an avocado is ripe, just click here.

The simplest and most tasty Avocado recipe is for Avocado Toast. Just mash a ripe Avocado, season with salt and pepper, then spread it on warm toast. Use a tasty fresh-baked slice of bread if you have a local bakery or farmers market. But a nice nutty whole-grain grocery store brand is fine.



Here in Los Angeles, Avocado prices are cheap compared to other states since we are trade partners with Mexico. I shop at Latin markets were avocados are less than a dollar apiece. If you keep an eye on seasonal sales, you might find them for bargain prices, too.

I like to start the day with this green bauble of deliciousness, sliced and tucked into a cheesy Omelet. This is too much of a good thing, but what the heck.

Crostini is an Italian appetizer that starts with wedges of toasted bread and any favorite toppings. Add a fried egg, plus avocado, and dig in.

I like a fresh and creamy slice of Avocado on my taco, how about you? And all my yummy Taco Recipes are a click away, here.

If you have a local Latin market in the hood, then this next recipe is for you. Plus, this recipe is a real dollar stretcher. Avocado Crema is a mix of Mexican Crema (substitute with sour cream) and mashed Avocado. 

Mexican Crema is similar to sour cream (okay to use sour cream instead,) just sweeter. Use this recipe at your next Taco Party and serve it with chips, and top a taco or burrito -- so good.

Not all Avocados are created equal, just check out my Cheap$kate Dining Review of Del Monte Fresh Guac, here. Does it rate a perfect 9 or a lowly.... hmm, all I can say is looks can be deceiving.

If you have a favorite cold salad, then add a chopped Avocado for a rich addition. I like Macaroni Salad mixed with mayo, krab, and Avocado, which brings it over the top.

For these immigrant-bashing days, I have a Cesar Chavez Salad made with funky anchovies and illegal Mexican-immigrant-picked Romain lettuce with, of course, Avocado from Mexico.

The sushi California Roll was invented here, and boy, does the rest of the country owe California a big thanks. Even hardcore sushi connoisseurs will pick up a pre-made package in the deli section of a local grocery chain store. Check out my video below and see how easy a California Roll is to make.



You can't do a better sandwich than a BLT, or Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich. Oh, wait, I take that back - you can do better with the addition of Avocado, of course. Okay, now go and make yourself a BLT+A Sammie.

For my vegetarian friends and visitors, my Hummus Veggie Wrap includes a Homemade Hummus recipe. Sliced Avocado rounds out the ingredients list. 

I discovered Cuban cuisine here in Los Angeles. And I like to start my restaurant meal with a Cuban Salad, comprised of Avocado, tomato, sliced onion, and radishes, and mixed with vinegar and oil. Very simple but a great contrast to the typical heavy and rich Cuban Roast Pork.

For the dog days of summer, nothing is better than a cool Ceviche. There is nothing to cook, just drain a can of beans and mix in shredded krab, chopped onion, jalapeño, tomato, and of course, Avocado.

Chill it, then get out the tortilla chips and park yourself under a cool shady tree with a frosty mug of beer or your fave cold beverage and watch the world go by.

I can eat Avocados morning, noon, and night, and you can too if you hang out at the 99 Cent Chef's food blog.

 

Tomato Season Recipes

Here are my first tomatoes of the season - right off the vine. I like to serve them uncooked when the tomatoes are at maximum freshness and most juicy. This is when you taste all the flavor a tomato has to offer.

This cheap$kate gardener seldom has a bumper crop, but the ones I pick will be put to delicious use. If you don't have a garden, maybe you have a generous neighbor, a local fave farmers market, or if you are on the road and just pull over into a roadside veggie and fruit stand with a hand-painted tomato sign.

So read on for the freshest tomato recipes that are just a slice away. And click on any recipe name to be directed to my blog post for the complete recipe text with photo illustrations.

For a fresh garden tomato, just simply slice it and add a couple more ingredients. My favorite recipe is for a Caprese Salad that's composed of fresh mozzarella, a few basil leaves, salt, olive oil, and, of course, thick slices of fresh tomato.

Arrange the parts on a plate and serve at room temperature. Set out a plate for your guests, and be sure to have a couple of bottles of wine ready to pour.

My Latin market, Superior, carries the cheapest whole tomatoes. Smaller Roma tomatoes are usually the least expensive. Store-bought cherry tomatoes pop with flavor.

Summertime is the right time for a chilly tomato soup by way of Spain called Gazpacho. It is a great way to start a patio party, just set out a bowl and let your guests serve themselves while you man the grill.

Gazpacho is a tasty medley of fresh tomatoes, bell pepper, garlic, onion, and cucumber. It gets a rich hit of olive oil to finish in the blender. No cooking is needed for this recipe, and you can see how easy to pull off below.



An Italian version of salsa on tortilla chips is lightly marinated chopped tomatoes served on wedges of toast, which is called Bruschetta. Serve it as a crunchy appetizer.



Salads and large chunks of sliced homegrown tomatoes belong together. Go light on the salad dressing, though, because you want that fresh tomato flavor to come through clearly.

A Warm Corn, Tomato & Cilantro Salad is a simple side dish to make. It's okay to always use cheap, fresh, frozen, or even canned corn.

I have a 2-Minute Salad made with easy-to-get ingredients, including canned chicken (okay to substitute canned tuna), canned beets, spinach, and tomato.

 Click on any photo to see larger.

This cheap$kate salad travels well and can be quickly put together for lunch at your workplace.



My most unusual Hearts of Palm Salad - Brazilian Style uses canned hearts of palm. If you have never tried hearts of palm, then break yourself in with this fresh salad idea.

Heart of Palm Salad

Another salad takes the crown for Best Classic Salad: my version of a Crab Louis Salad. While expensive ingredients are called for, I have recently found jars of asparagus, and I use cheap fake crab or krab.

Of course, if you are cooking to impress, then use real lump crab meat.

Fake Crab Louis Salad

Sauteed sliced steak, or feta cheese, on a salad needs a strong-flavored tomato, and a garden tomato is up for the job in my Warm Steak and Armenian-Style salads, which feature pungent feta cheese.

Warm Steak Salad

Italian pasta sauces will not be much improved upon with a fresh garden tomato. However, the exception is my Rustic Tomato Sauce with Pasta. The fresh tomato is added at the last minute and only cooked until it starts to collapse, but still at peak flavor. 

A big fat tomato slice is what every sandwich requires, at least in my recipe book. I like tomato on my Breakfast Egg Sandwich and even a wedge of tomato nestled in my Chicago-style Hot Dog.

Egg Sandwich

Chicago Hot Dog

For a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich, you gotta have a good tomato. I often kick my BLT up a notch with the addition of sliced avocado.

BLT Sandwich

For my vegetarian visitors add tomato to my delish grilled Portabella Mushroom Burger, or a Veggie Wrap with Hummus.

Portabella Mushroom Burger

 Veggie Wrap with Hummus - ingredients

Mexican cuisine loves the tomato. And the freshest way to use it is chopped into a chunky Pico de Gallo salsa. Serve it with your favorite tortilla chips, or add this salsa to almost any Mexican entree like burritos comprised of Carnitas (pork,) Carne Asada (steak,) Eggs & Refried Beans, Pastrami & Coleslaw (?!!) -- and tacos made with Fish, Carne Asada, Carnitas, Poultry, Breakfast, Tinga (spicy chicken stew,) Chicken Green Chile Verde, and Chorizo & Egg,  

Pico de Gallo - chunky salsa

A Summer Ceviche made with krab, drained black beans, cucumber, tomato, onion, cilantro, and creamy avocado is my go-to patio party starter. Set out a big bowl of chips to scoop up my cool Krab Ceviche. And be sure to have some Picante hot sauce at the ready.

Summer Ceviche - Video

I'll leave you with a bit of cheap$kate comedy about my video visit to a local garden nursery for free noshing on fruit picked fresh from the vine, including a beefsteak tomato. Bon Appetit !

Baseball World Series Recipes - L.A. Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays

It's jalapenos vs. cheese curds for a recipe battle between the LA Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays in the 2025 Baseball World Series. So, choose your sides!

First at-bat, Hot Dogs are the King of the ballpark. And boy does this Knight of the Round Dinner Table have royal recipes for you to try...all hail the Winners, I mean the Wieners!!

Mr. & Mrs. 99, plus our friend, Kathy.

Canucks have their own versions, too. Load up a regular hot dog and top it off with a creamy coleslaw sweetened with real Canadian maple syrup. Click here for my basic mayo version, but add a tablespoon of maple syrup. Canadian Coleslaw versions also include a little milk and vinegar. The hot dog animation below guilds the maple leaf with the addition of beef chili. 

I live in L.A., so you know who I'll be rooting for...Let's Go Dodgers!

Boy, are hot dog ingredients cheap. This year, I've been getting hot dogs, buns, mustard, and sweet pickle relish from my local Dollar Tree.

Last year, the Dodgers bought in phenom pitcher and home run hitter Shohei Ohtani. He is now the record holder of the most home runs and stolen bases in a single season. He created a new category of 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases, the first baseball player to do so. All over L.A., there are murals and memorabilia featuring Shohei Ohtani to see and own.

I couldn't help but come up with my switch-hitter version of a Dodger Dog that I call an Ohtani Dodger Dog. It is a regular hot dog with 2 sheets of Dried Seaweed Snacks.

Check out my recipe video below and see how my Ohtani Dodger Dog stacks up!

In this World Series of Recipes,  it's a bacon battle of lean Canadian Bacon vs. American-style Bacon. 

In L.A., we add avocado to everything, including the traditional BLT. For my version of a Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich. I switched hit lean Turkey Bacon and added sliced avocado from the dugout. It's a homerun sammie, with crispy bacon and creamy avocado.

I never had Canadian Bacon until McDonald's pitched the Egg McMuffin to the world. For my homemade version, I couldn't find cheap Canadian Bacon, so I substituted a slice of ham. If you are a Blue Jays fan, then it's back bacon all the way to your home plate. Below is how I stole home with my homemade version - Oh Canada!

In Los Angeles, we invented the California Roll...hold it, Canada also has dibs on it, too. Read about the debate here. Any way you slice it, all baseball fans are the winners.

The ingredient lineup is rice, cucumber, avocado, and fake crab, or krab wrapped in a glove of seaweed.

I like imitation crab or krab as an ingredient because it is the cheapest seafood. Here in L.A., we get avocados all baseball season long.

I made a sushi roll in the video below, but it's easier to just wrap the ingredients loosely as a Hand Roll, if you are a minor league rookie. 

I'll confess, I prefer Canadian Maple Syrup on my Pancakes, so thank you Canucks! And when I make Pancakes, I always add fresh American fruit from California to the pancake batter. Can we get along, at least for breakfast? 

So dig deep into my bullpen and click on any of the tasty treat names above to watch an instant reply of recipes from my food blog. Your guest will be cheering you on -- from their cheap seats!

National Avocado Day - Recipe Videos and a Review

God, how I love avocados. My last bite on earth would be a simple slice of creamy Haas avocado.

This is a most delicious blog post you will want to bookmark for future viewing. And click on any recipe name to see all the original recipe photos and text.

July 31 is National Avocado Day, and I have a ripe basketful of recipes for you to use this most luscious and rich fruit.

The creamiest and richest Avocado, the Haas, was first grafted from a single tree here in La Habra Heights in Los Angeles County almost 100 years ago. Read about the origin story here. And if you need a reminder on how to tell when an avocado is ripe, just click here.

The simplest and most tasty Avocado recipe is for Avocado Toast. Just mash a ripe Avocado, season with salt and pepper, then spread it on warm toast. Use a tasty fresh-baked slice of bread if you have a local bakery or farmers market. But a nice nutty whole-grain grocery store brand is fine.



Here in Los Angeles, Avocado prices are all over the map, from a buck and a half for a large one to six small ones for 99 cents! If you keep an eye on seasonal sales, you might find them for bargain prices, too.

I like to start the day with this green bauble of deliciousness, sliced and tucked into a cheesy Omelet. This is too much of a good thing, but what the heck.

I like a fresh and creamy slice of Avocado on my taco, how about you? And all my yummy Taco Recipes are a click away, here.

If you have a local Latin market in the hood, then this next recipe is for you. Plus, this recipe is a real dollar stretcher. Avocado Crema is a mix of Mexican Crema (substitute with sour cream) and mashed Avocado. 

Mexican Crema is similar to sour cream (okay to use sour cream instead,) just sweeter. Use this recipe at your next Taco Party and serve it with chips, and top a taco or burrito -- so good.

Not all Avocados are created equal, just check out my Cheap$kate Dining Review of Del Monte Fresh Guac, here. Does it rate a perfect 9 or a lowly.... hmm, all I can say is looks can be deceiving.

If you have a favorite cold salad, then add a chopped Avocado for a rich addition. I like Macaroni Salad mixed with mayo, krab, and Avocado, which brings it over the top.

For these immigrant-bashing days, I have a Cesar Chavez Salad made with funky anchovies and illegal Mexican-immigrant-picked Romain lettuce with, of course, Avocado from Mexico.

The sushi California Roll was invented here, and boy, does the rest of the country owe California a big thanks. Even hardcore sushi connoisseurs will pick up a pre-made package in the deli section of a local grocery chain store. Check out my video below and see how easy a California Roll is to make.



You can't do a better sandwich than a BLT, or Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich. Oh, wait, I take that back - you can do better with the addition of Avocado, of course. Okay, now go and make yourself a BLT+A Sammie.

For my vegetarian friends and visitors, my Hummus Veggie Wrap includes a Homemade Hummus recipe. Sliced Avocado rounds out the ingredients list. 

I discovered Cuban cuisine here in Los Angeles. And I like to start my restaurant meal with a Cuban Salad, comprised of Avocado, tomato, sliced onion, and radishes, and mixed with vinegar and oil. Very simple but a great contrast to the typical heavy and rich Cuban Roast Pork.

For the dog days of summer, nothing is better than a cool Ceviche. There is nothing to cook, just drain a can of beans and mix in shredded krab, chopped onion, jalapeño, tomato, and of course, Avocado.

Chill it, then get out the tortilla chips and park yourself under a cool shady tree with a frosty mug of beer or your fave cold beverage and watch the world go by.

I can eat Avocados morning, noon, and night, and you can too if you hang out at the 99 Cent Chef's food blog.