Avocado Taco Boats – 28 Day Reset approved!

Hey guys!

I am so excited to share this melt-in-your-mouth dish! Like really…get ready for a taste-bud explosion!

Aside from being super adorbs (who doesn’t like food it its own little boat?!) there’s a lot going on in terms of texture, taste, spice, color and health benefits. Did you know that we can increase our fullness and satisfaction by activating more taste buds and senses?

Think about it…after too many sweet meals and treats, you kind of just want more sweet stuff, but the craving doesn’t go away even when you eat more sweets. It’s that bottomless pit feeling that comes from meals that are all sweet, or all salty. Sure, other things play into this, like blood sugar spikes and empty calories not filling us up, but try it and see for yourself. Instead of devouring a bag of chips, have 8 chips with a spicy hummus dip squeezed with lemon. Not only will you get a nice dose of protein and healthy carbs, but you’ll satisfy your need for spice, sour, and bitter with a little creaminess thrown in too.

That leads us to this little beauty that sits inside one of nature’s perfect foods: the avocado.

The creaminess of this little fruit is the perfect counterpart to the chewy seasoned turkey meat, slightly crunchy bell peppers and spicy sriracha drizzle. You can totally put your favorite taco seasonings and additions into your meat mixture.

I wanted to pack as much flavor as possible into this meal without a long list of ingredients. To do that, I chose a really flavorful red salsa with a decent amount of heat, because I like things SPICYYYY. A squeeze of lime adds a little acidity, and of course, garlic powder brings it all home. A 1/2 packet of taco seasoning would add a lot of flavor too, but just be sure to read your labels because some contain MSG and a long list of other ingredients, that, in my opinion, have no place in a seasoning mix.

Check out the label from a common seasoning from the grocery store:

• Whey (milk)
• Sugar
• Potato Starch or Modified Corn Starch
• Citric Acid
• Maltodextrin
• Autolyzed Yeast Extract (another name for MSG)
• Caramel Color (sulfites)
• Cellulose
• Ethoxyquin (Preservative)

Too much weird stuff I don’t want in my food. Better to make your own!

So let’s get to the recipe! If you eat one boat with a small side salad, this is completely PIIT28 approved! You could swap this in for a Reset meal, or eat any time on the plan. If you’re super hungry and can’t stop at just one boat, have two, but don’t add guacamole to the top. These are super low carb, and the fat they do contain is the healthy kind, coming mostly from the heart-healthy avocado. These are an awesome Super Bowl snack too!

We start by scooping out a little avocado goodness into a bowl to create the boats and make our guacamole topping.

AVOCADO TACO BOATS

Yield: 6 servings

Serving Size: 1 avocado boat (1/2 avocado)

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 12 min

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe avocados
• 1 teaspoon olive or avocado oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup yellow onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 pound 8% fat ground turkey
• 1/2 cup salsa
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 2 green onion, chopped
• Sriracha to taste
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves

Guacamole Topper:

• Reserved avocado flesh
• 2 tablespoons salsa
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and then add the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute before adding the onion, and stir both together for 3 minutes.
3. Add the bell pepper and saute for 1 minute, then add the ground turkey and brown on all sides (about 5 minutes). Stir in the salsa, lime juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper and cook until turkey is no longer pink inside.
4. Remove from heat, stir in half of the green onion and set aside.
5. Cut each avocado in half and remove the pit in each. Set the avocado halves in a baking dish. Scoop out a little flesh from each avocado and place into a bowl. Spoon turkey mixture into each avocado and pack down a bit. Sprinkle the tops with remaining green onion and bake for 12 minutes.
6. While the boats are baking, add the guacamole topper ingredients to the bowl with the reserved avocado flesh and mash.
7. Top each boat with 1-2 tablespoons of the guacamole (you may have some left over), drizzle with Sriracha and sprinkle with cilantro.

Before going into the oven. Aren’t they cute?!

Nutritional Info:

Calories: 329 | Protein: 16g | Fat: 24g | Net Carbs: 6g | Fiber: 9.5g

Comment below if you give these a try! What else can we put in an avocado?