Best Healthy Avocado Toast

Ingredients

• 1/2 ripe avocado
• 1 slice of full grain bread
• 1 pinch of pumpkin seed
• 1 pinch of flaky sea salt

Directions

Tips

• Avoid using over-ripe avocados for this avocado toast recipe. Instead, look for ripe avocados that are not mushy or stringy inside and yield just a little bit when gently squeezed.
• If your avocado is brown or bruised in some places when you cut it open, don’t panic. Just scoop and discard those bits out and use the rest of the avocado as instructed.
• It is necessary to buy good bread and toast it well for the best avocado toast. Sturdy, thick-sliced, whole grain bread works particularly well, but you can also use whole-wheat bread, white bread, or any other bread of your choice.
• Do not try to mash slices of avocado on top of your toast. You’re likely to poke holes into the toast and ruin it. Instead, scoop the avocado flesh out and mash it in a separate bowl or on the side of the plate with a fork or spoon.
• If you're mashing many avocados at once, use a potato masher or pastry cutter instead of a fork or spoon.
• Don’t forget to add at least a pinch of salt for every avocado half you mash. It makes mashed avocado so much better.
• For a gluten-free avocado toast, use the gluten-free bread of your choice.
• Different types of bread take different times to toast in the toaster at the same heat settings. For example, brown bread needs less time than white bread due to its lower moisture content, while gluten-free bread needs more as it is thicker and denser than normal wheat-based bread. Keep this in mind when toasting your bread.
• If you have a double-slotted toaster and struggle with one side ending up darker than the other when making toast for one, flip the toast front to back midway through the cycle to allow both sides to toast evenly.
• To make toasted bread in the oven, heat your oven to 350°F and place the bread on the middle rack (either on a sheet pan or without). Toast for about 10 minutes, flipping the bread at the 5-minute mark for perfect golden brown toasts or longer for a darker toast.
• You can also make toasted bread on the stove. To do this, add butter or oil to a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat and toast the bread for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown.