Preconception · Snack

Avocado & White Bean Smash Cups

Name: Avocado & White Bean Smash Cups
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 1 ripe avocado; 200 g canned cannellini beans, drained; 1 lime, juiced; 10 g cilantro, chopped; a pinch of chili flakes; 1 red bell pepper, in strips; 2 celery sticks, in batons; ¼ tsp salt; a pinch of black pepper

Avocado mashed with white beans, lime and cilantro into little pots with veg dippers - guacamole's higher-fiber cousin.

A bowl of guacamole with cannellini beans smashed through it, scooped up with raw pepper and celery instead of chips. The beans disappear into the avocado completely, so it tastes like the snack you already wanted while quietly carrying folate and fiber into an afternoon.

Avocado & White Bean Smash Cups - Avocado mashed with white beans, lime and cilantro into little pots with veg dippers

Easy

Vegan FolateFiberAntioxidants

Ingredients

for 2 people

1ripe avocado
200 gcanned cannellini beans, drained
1lime, juiced
10 gcilantro, chopped
a pinch ofchili flakes
1red bell pepper, in strips
2celery sticks, in batons
¼ tspsalt
a pinch ofblack pepper

Open this recipe in the interactive app to scale servings, switch to oz and cups, and tick ingredients off as you cook.

Per serving (approx.): 280 calories · 9 g protein · 24 g carbs · 16 g fat · 10 g fiber

Method

Mash. Halve and pit the avocado and scoop it into a medium bowl with the drained beans. Mash with a fork until mostly smooth but still a little chunky - some whole beans are good.
Season. Stir in the lime juice, chopped cilantro, chili flakes, salt and black pepper until evenly mixed through. Taste, and push the lime further than feels polite - it carries the whole cup.
Pot. Divide the smash into small cups or pots, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon. Press the surface flat so less air reaches it - that is what keeps it green.
Dip. Tuck the bell pepper strips and celery batons upright into each cup, or lay them alongside. Eat right away, or lid the cups and refrigerate; the lime holds the color until tomorrow's snack.

Worth knowingBlending beans into guacamole doubles the folate and triples the fiber without anyone noticing - the best kind of nutrition.

Is this safe when trying to conceive?

Nothing here sits on any avoidance list, which is most of the appeal for a preconception snack. The one habit worth keeping is washing the pepper, celery and cilantro properly before they go anywhere near the bowl, since they are all eaten raw. Folate is the reason this recipe exists at all: the advice is to take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily from before conception through to week 12, and food folate like this sits alongside that supplement rather than replacing it.

Substitutions & allergens

No cilantro, or it tastes like soap to you: flat-leaf parsley does the same job. Cannellini can be any white bean you have open, or chickpeas for a coarser texture. Lime can be lemon. For a nut-free and sesame-free dipper that is sturdier than celery, use cucumber batons or chicory leaves. If you want it milder for a shared bowl, leave the chili flakes out entirely rather than halving them.

Storage & reheating

Avocado browns fast, so this is a make-and-eat dish rather than a batch one. If you do have leftovers, press cling film onto the surface so no air touches it and keep it in the fridge for up to 48 hours, refrigerating within 1 to 2 hours of making it. The extra lime juice on top helps. It does not freeze; the avocado turns watery and gray on thawing.

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