Along with being a great source of healthy fats and important vitamins, avocado has a unique, creamy texture and subtle earthy taste that makes the fruit an endlessly versatile ingredient to keep in stock. And not to downplay the culinary and nutritional value of avocados, but they’re also one of the most eye-catching foods you can incorporate into a recipe. Their vibrant green hue contrasts brilliantly against bland-looking food like rice or toast, making them a good choice if you want to put together a show-stopping spread. Avocados can be prepared in a number of ways, but one of the easiest and most aesthetically pleasing techniques is to shingle them. To shingle an avocado basically means to cut it thinly and arrange the slices so they closely overlap, similar to shingles on a roof.
All you need to successfully shingle an avocado is a sharp knife, and you can keep your knives in top shape by washing and drying them, as well as only using them to cut food. To start, halve and pit a ripe avocado. Using a spoon, scoop the avocado out of its peel. If you’re having trouble, you can also slice off the top end of the avocado (where the stem is) so it’s easier to peel by hand. Then you’re ready to start shingling.
Expertly slice avocados for a stunning presentation
Place a peeled avocado half flat-side down on a cutting board, and thinly slice it into ⅛ to ¼ inch pieces. This is best done with a ripe avocado that’s soft enough to cut easily. If the only avocados you have on hand are still too green, you can quickly ripen avocados by putting them in a paper bag and leaving them for 24 hours. To turn the sliced avocado into a more impressive dish, simply use your fingers to push the slices down and at a slight angle until you get that classic shingled aesthetic. Just be careful not to smush the avocado. Once you’re happy with how the avocados look, load them onto the flat side of a knife or a bench scraper to top them onto their intended spot.
Shingled avocados don’t just make a dish look more appealing; they serve a practical function, too. The thin, soft slices of fruit are easy to mix into a rice bowl or spread over a piece of toast while still maintaining the slightly firmer texture of an unmashed avocado. Shingled avocados topped with coarse sea salt are the perfect, pretty choice for the internet’s favorite dish, avocado toast.
