I have a thing for strong fruit-centric drinks (but not sweet drinks) and there’s a difference. The blueberry old fashioned packs its own punch as does the strawberry martini.

 Now you might not realize that the avocado is a fruit.

According to this article, they fit the botanical criteria for a berry, which surprised me.

As is true in many of the recipes here at Spinach Tiger, the avocado margarita was not on my white board or in any of my plans until just a few days ago.

My fitness instructor asked me on Monday if I was going to make a margarita for National Margarita Day. Since the whole class was watching, I said sure, and then in my head, thought, probably not. That is  until my friend who works out with me started raving about an avocado margarita  she recently had at this new restaurant aptly named Avo. She even gave me some black sea salt for the drink.

I left inspired to create an avocado margarita and somehow put my own spin to it.

After a quick trip to buy some limes, I went home got out the tequila, avocados, cilantro and celery leaves. Instead of  typical triple sec, I used Gran Gala, a brandy based orange liquor from Trieste, Italy, and quickly I had my margarita up in time for instagram on the national margarita day amongst the other 84,000 posts.

Did you know that when you go to instagram, if you search with a hashtag, you can find all the ways people spend their day eating and drinking.

The Avocado Margarita Showcases My Love for Healthy Food

The avocado margarita combines my love for healthy green food, but don’t be fooled. There’s a good amount of tequila in each drink.  It’s creamy, yet tart, and maybe even a little too easy to drink. It’s not too sweet, but it needs the salt to balance it, so please don’t leave that out.

The Avocado Margarita Process and Gran Gala

I found the recipe at Bon Appetit, which was inspired by an avocado margarita made famous at Curra’s Grill in Austin. I added in the celery salt and instead of triple sec, I used Gran Gala, a VSOP Italian brandy based orange liquor.

Gran Gala has a velvety feel, and an intense flavor and can be used in any cocktail that uses triple sec or Gran Marnier.

I used half avocado for two drinks, and it was the right amount to get that lovely creaminess. I used a touch of cilantro and celery leaves (because I had them and I like that celery flavor). I could even see a dash of celery salt and a dash of cayenne if you want to take the drink to a zestier level.

You Can Freeze this Batch of Avocado Margaritas Ahead of  Your Party

I made these on Monday, but not ready to drink, so I froze the batch in a plastic ziplock. This is truly the secret to a nice iced cold cocktail that you can make in big batches and have ready for your party.

Simply take out until the freeze wears off and the liquid is still cold, or run again in your Vitamix frozen.

The avocado margarita is a good start to my dreams of weekly cocktails. Come back next time for a classic manhattan, as I love retro drinks. If you have a good recipe for something, please send it my way.

A Few of the  Cocktails featured here at Spinach Tiger

Best  Margarita with Fresh Citrus

Blueberry Old Fashioned

Bloody Mary

Strawberry Martini

More Cocktails from Spinach Tiger

Mexican Food from Spinach Tiger

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Avocado Margarita

Avocado Margarita, healthy, smooth, creamy and delicious, adapted from Curra’s Grill in Austin, via Bon Appetite Magazine.

Course Cocktail

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt or gourmet salt of your choice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime or 1 teaspoon finely minced green herb
• 1/2 avocado pitted, peeled
• 4 ounces tequila
• 3 ounces gran gala a triple orange liquor (or triple sec)
• 3 ounces fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon agave or simple syrup
• 1 tablespoon orange juice or squeeze fresh orange
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro and optional celery leaves combined
• 4 lime wheels

Instructions

• Rim 4 medium sized glasses with a lime wedge and dip into crushed salt. Salt should be moderately course. You can mix the salt with some lime zest or finely chopped parsley (or cilantro)for added color.
• Combine all ingredients into a blender.
• Pour into glasses.
• Garnish with lime wheel.
• This makes 2 to 4 margaritas.

Notes

You Can Freeze Ahead

I froze the batch in a plastic ziplock. This is truly the secret to a nice iced cold cocktail that you can make in big batches and have ready for your party. Simply take out until the freeze wears off and the liquid is still cold, or run again in your Vitamix frozen.

This recipe makes 2-4 margaritas, depending on size of glass.
To make the drink a little greener, I added in some parsley on the second batch, which you don't really taste much of and cilantro would be too overpowering. Mix up a little with the sea salt and rim the glass.

The post Avocado Margarita with Gran Gala Liquor appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I have made an abundance of blackberry recipes this year.  As a friend (thank you CL) was moving out of state, she handed me over twenty pounds of frozen blackberries she had hand picked. I was committed to not letting any go to waste, and I began creating blackberry recipes.  I thought I used them all up and surprisingly found one last bag  this week.

Although I’m sort of a traditional Thanksgiving cook, I thought why not add them to cranberries and make a new kind of sauce? The result was even more surprising. Rich in color, and fragrant in fall flavors, I had a delightful new recipe that might just become a new tradition.

The Process

I boiled the frozen berries down, threw in sugar, cranberries, almond extract, triple sec, a cinnamon stick, juice and zest of an orange. The flavors are fun and complex, and the deep color is captivating. The nice surprise is that I had too much liquid and was able to extract over a cup of syrup that I can use for other things from savory to sweet, perhaps duck breast, pancakes, ice cream, or goat cheese.

The possibilities of how to use the syrup are endless. It’s sweet but not too sweet and unlike a blueberry syrup, this has winter flavors. I added in a dash of sea salt and a grinding of black pepper to even further punch up the flavors. You can skip that step if it’s a little too daring.

This recipe is more of an idea to be inspired and try new flavors. You could make this recipe with raspberries also. You can change the combination and use 1 cup blackberries or raspberries and 3 cups cranberries. I used equal amounts but you can make this your own.

Here are a few good looking recipes I found elsewhere:

Cran Raspberry Sauce from Joy of Baking

Chipotle Cranberry Sauce from CD Kitchen

Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce  from The Gallery Gourmet

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Cranberry Blackberry Sauce

Recipe for blackberry cranberry sauce beautiful for any Thanksgiving table.

Course Sauce

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 cup frozen blackberries
• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon triple sec
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• juice and zest of an orange
• cinnamon stick
• dash salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Put frozen blackberries in medium sized heavy bottom pan with enough water to cover. Boil down until they are no longer frozen.
• Add in sugar, triple sec, juice of orange, almond extract, zest and cinnamon stick. Boil on cranberries on medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until cranberries pop open. Add salt and pepper and turn off stove.
• Remove and reserve liquid for a syrup. Cool completely. Refrigerate before serving. Make a day ahead so flavors come together and sauce sets.

The post Cranberry Blackberry Sauce and Syrup Recipes appeared first on Spinach Tiger.