Below you’ll find recipes for Avocado Toast 5 Ways, and an absurdly refreshing cold soup, Cooling Cucumber Avocado Soup.

Avocado Toast 5 Ways

BY BILL ST JOHN

1. Avocado Toast with Prosciutto

Makes 2 slices.

Ingredients

  • 2 slices Marczyk Fine Foods Jewish Rye Bread

  • Extra-virgin olive oil

  • Freshly cracked black pepper and coarse-grained sea salt

  • 1 large Marczyk Fine Foods avocado

  • 3-4 slices Niman Ranch Uncured Prosciutto

  • Dried hot pepper flakes (such as Flatiron Pepper Company “Four Pepper Blend”)

  • Chopped flat-leaf parsley and wedges of lemon or lime

Directions

  1. Toast the bread slices to your liking. Drizzle the olive oil onto 1 side of each slice and sprinkle liberally with the salt and pepper. Halve the avocado lengthwise, discarding the seed and, with a very large spoon, scoop out the flesh from each half in 1 spoonful.

  2. Place each half of avocado, rounded side up, on each slice of toast and mash coarsely with the back tines of a fork, spreading the avocado out but also keeping it chunky. Furl or bunch the prosciutto slices atop the mashed avocado.

  3. Sprinkle liberally with the dried pepper flakes and the chopped parsley, squeezing the juice from a lime or lemon wedge onto the toasts as a final flourish.

2. With cured salmon, mint, and lemon

Top the mashed avocado with either Ducktrap Cold-Smoked or Nova Lox salmon, fresh mint leaf chiffonade (thin ribbons), and lemon zest.

3. With pico de gallo and lime

Top the mashed avocado with 2 tablespoons of Pete’s Pico de Gallo and squeezes of fresh lime juice

4. With ripe tomato, basil and balsamic

Top the mashed avocado with a thick slice of heirloom or beefsteak tomato, Wild Harvest basil chiffonade, Marczyk’s aged or organic balsamic vinegar, and liberal sprinklings of salt and pepper.

5. With strawberries and aged balsamic

For a sweeter beginning to the day, top the mashed avocado with sliced strawberries and a few drops of Marczyk’s aged balsamic vinegar.

A note on breads: In my view, better choices for avocado toast are breads with firmer crumb and crust, such as those made with blends of both rye and wheat flours, or hearty sourdough or levain breads (breads raised from a starter), either white or wheat. Marczyk’s bakes all these types of breads.

With hearty breads such as these, sometimes the toaster can be supplanted by the grill, or even a cast-iron skillet fiery of heat and coated with good olive oil or ghee.

Breads that are nutted or fruited (say, with raisins) might fit for avocado toast with toppings such as bacon or other smoked or cured meats like pastrami or corned beef.

And an egg. An egg would be terrific.

Cooling Cucumber Avocado Soup

BY BILL ST JOHN

Adapted from The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen by Rebecca Katz (Ten Speed Press, 2009). Makes 3-4 cups.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup apple juice or cider

  • 2 pounds English or Persian cucumbers, partially peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks

  • 2 ripe Marczyk Fine Foods avocados, peeled and pitted

  • Flesh from 1 peeled and seeded lime, in small chunks

  • 1/2 teaspoon Bjorn's Colorado honey

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt

  • 1 cup filtered water

  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint leaves

  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro, thin stems and leaves

Directions

  1. Pour the apple juice or cider into the well of a blender. Add the vegetables and lime bits, honey, and salt.

  2. Blend until very smooth, adding water as necessary or until the soup reaches the consistency you desire. (You may use more than 1 cup water.)

  3. Chill at least for 3 hours or overnight. Stir in the chopped mint and cilantro and serve in chilled bowls. (You may top with a swirl of fruity extra virgin olive oil, such as La Cultivada Hojiblanca, if desired.)