Grilling week continues! For the 3 recipes I’m sharing this week (the first was a grilled asparagus recipe if you missed it), I really wanted to choose produce that’s less commonly grilled. We’ll have all summer to grill my favorite staples like peppers, zucchini, and eggplant. I’ve never grilled an avocado, I thought “ooh, that’ll be fun!” It was fun, we loved it, and so will you:
I start by making my veggie ceviche filling with hearts of palm (it has a fish-like texture), tomato, serrano pepper, cilantro, and diced red onion for crunch. The veggies get tossed with lots of lime juice, zest, and a splash of coconut milk.
I usually like my ceviche with avocado chunks in it… in this case, I’m doing things backwards by stuffing the ceviche into the avocado. On its own, the ceviche is a bit on the tart side, but those flavors become more balanced once nestled in the creamy avocado.
After filling is made and you’re ready to eat, slice and season the avocado halves with olive oil, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Don’t slice them any earlier or they’ll start to brown.
(Sidebar – drain any liquid that’s fallen into the hole of the avocado before placing them on the grill. When oil drips into the grill, the flame gets bigger and you don’t want your hands to be nearby).
Grill the avocados on medium-high heat, cut side down, for 3-4 minutes. Mine (pictured) came out a tiny bit too charred at 5 minutes, but they were still soft, creamy, tangy, and delicious!
Grilled Avocados Stuffed with Veggie Ceviche
- 2 tablespoons coconut milk
- Zest and juice of 1 lime, plus lime wedges for serving
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- ½ garlic clove, minced
- 1 can hearts of palm, drained, rinsed and diced
- 1 cup diced cherry tomatoes
- ⅓ cup diced cilantro
- ½ diced jalapeño or serrano, more if desired
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon sea salt, more for sprinkling
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 ripe yet firm avocados
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- In a medium-small bowl, combine the coconut milk, lime zest and juice, red onion, and garlic. Stir, then add the hearts of palm, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeño, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Heat a grill to medium-high heat. When the grill is preheated, slice the avocados in half, remove the pits, and drizzle each half with olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Grill the avocado halves cut side down for 3 to 4 minutes or until char marks form.
- Remove from the grill, place on a platter and fill each avocado half with the filling. Serve with a pinch of salt, if desired, and lime wedges.
- Serves 8 as a side.
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