Inspired by the avocado toast served at the popular Source Café in Hermosa Beach, this version takes the ubiquitous avocado toast and adds cashew cream, pickled red onions, and sumac. It’s light yet satisfying and great for breakfast, light lunch or hearty snack.
- Prep Time:
20 mins - Cook Time:
20 mins - Total Time:
40 mins
I admit there is no shortage of avocado toast recipes available already. And it seems that one hardly needs a recipe for spreading smashed avocado on a slice of toasted bread. It isn’t involved like crab eggs benedict or cherry cream cheese pastries that warrant actual recipes. So what makes this avocado toast recipe worthy of a full blog post?
It all starts with the cashew cream. Adding a vegan-friendly protein to avocado toasts isn’t always easy but this easy-to-make cashew cream solves that problem. It adds a luscious, nutty flavor without overpowering the avocado.
A generous sprinkling of tart sumac spice, some pickled red onions, and maybe a few parsley leaves on top is all you need to finish it off.
And gosh, isn’t the whole thing just beautiful. This is how I want to be greeted in the morning.
Tips for making cashew cream
The cashew cream is a key element in this recipe. It has the consistency of a whipped peanut butter and I have been known to eat spoonfuls of it when I wanted a quick snack.
I use a Vitamix blender to get that smooth texture but I think the real key is patience. I have found it works better to use a low speed and go longer than try to blend everything together at a high speed. It also helps to stop and scrape down the sides of the blender pitcher regularly. The whole process takes about 5-10 minutes.
Sliced vs mashed avocados
Given the smooth consistency of the cashew cream, I like the texture of sliced avocados as contrast. It’s important to slice the avocados thinly. I find the avocados are less prone to slide off and the whole thing is easier to bite into when the slices aren’t too thick. However, if thinly slicing avocados isn’t what you want to deal with in the morning, feel free to just mash the avocados instead.
Avocado Toast with Cashew Cream, Pickled Red Onions, and Sumac
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: Breakfast, Lunch
- Cuisine: American
Description
Inspired by the avocado toast served at the popular Source Café in Hermosa Beach, this version takes the ubiquitous avocado toast and adds cashew cream, pickled red onions, and sumac.
Ingredients
For the cashew cream
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons water (see Notes 1 & 2)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
For the pickled onions
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1 cup sliced red onions
For the avocado toast
- 4 (1/4 to 1/2-inch-thick) slices sourdough or other crusty chewy bread
- 2 small ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
- Sumac spice (see Note 3)
- Parsley leaves, optional
Instructions
For the cashew cream
- Add ingredients. In the pitcher of a blender, add the cashews, garlic clove, olive oil, lemon juice, water, and salt.
- Blend. Turn the blender on to the lowest speed and blend until the mixture starts to come together. Slowly increase the speed and process until the mixture is relatively smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.
For the pickled red onions
- Cook pickling liquid. In a small saucepan, stir together the apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, and salt until the sugar is mostly dissolved.
- Simmer onions. Add the onions to the vinegar mixture. Bring the onions to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Toss the onions around occasionally as they simmer so they cook evenly in the pickling liquid. Set aside to cool (see Note 4).
For the avocado toast
- Prep bread. Toast the bread slices until just golden brown.
- Spread cashew cream. Spread the toasted bread with a generous amount of cashew cream.
- Add avocados. Place the peeled and pitted avocado halves, cut side down, on a cutting board and thinly slice. Gently fan out the slices and then transfer them to the toasts (a small off-set spatula works well for this). Alternatively, you can scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl and lightly smash the avocado with a fork before spreading it on top of the cashew cream.
- Finish. Sprinkle a generous amount of sumac over each slice of bread and top with desired amount of pickled red onions and parsley leaves.
Notes
- If the cashew cream is too thick for your liking, you can add another 2-3 teaspoons of water to thin it slightly.
- If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you can soak the cashews in hot water for about 10 minutes to soften them before blending.
- If you can’t find sumac, you can substitute with some sea salt. I also love black lava salt on avocado toast.
- To quickly cool off the pickled red onions, you can put the pan in a bowl of ice water (being careful to not let any water get into the pan). Stir occasionally until the onions are cool.
- The cashew cream will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.
- The pickled onions will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.
- Cashew cream recipe adapted from Love and Lemons.
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