Edamame with avocado & tomato
Creamy avocado, firm edamame, and juicy tomato wedges tossed with cumin and a thin drizzle of olive oil. Everything goes into one bowl. Nothing touches a pan.
This snack lands at 321 calories with 12 grams of fiber from two different sources — edamame and avocado — and 12 grams of complete plant protein from the edamame alone. The fat is almost entirely monounsaturated, split between avocado and olive oil. Five grams of carbs, total.
Ingredients
- edamame 3 ounces
- avocado 0.5
- tomato 1
- ground cumin 1 pinch
- olive oil 0.5 tablespoon
Method
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Rinse the beans in a colander with cold water. Cut the avocado flesh into cubes. Slice the tomato into wedges.
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Mix the edamame beans with the avocado, tomato, cumin powder and oil in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Toss the avocado cubes in the olive oil before adding the tomato. The oil coats the cut flesh and slows the browning that starts within minutes of slicing. If you are prepping this ahead, add the avocado last — the acid from the tomato and the salt will soften it within an hour.
Why This Works
Behind this recipe
Is edamame a complete protein?
Yes. Soy is one of a small number of plant sources that provides all nine essential amino acids in meaningful amounts. The 84 grams of edamame in this snack contribute 12 grams of protein with an amino acid profile comparable to animal sources. A controlled 12-week training study found no significant difference in muscle gain between plant-based and omnivore protein sources.
Read the full evidence reviewDoes cooking the tomato change anything nutritionally?
It does. Cooking breaks down the cell walls of a tomato and releases more lycopene — the compound behind the red color. Tomato paste delivers roughly 2.5 times more lycopene to the bloodstream than the same amount from a fresh tomato. This recipe uses raw tomato, so less lycopene escapes the cells. The trade-off is texture: raw wedges hold their shape and add a juicy bite that disappears when cooked.
Why is the fat content so high for a snack?
The 28 grams of fat come almost entirely from avocado and olive oil — both predominantly monounsaturated. Fat is the most calorie-dense macronutrient at 9 calories per gram, which is why half an avocado and a drizzle of oil push the total to 321 calories. The fiber and protein in this bowl help moderate how quickly you digest it.
