I don’t always eat Whataburger . . . but when I do I like to pair it with a nice wine.

Like the 2010 Duchman Family Winery Vermentino I recently discovered at Tony’s.

So last week I grabbed a bottle of the Vermentino and brought back another Texas favorite, an orange and white striped sack full of warm Whataburger food — specifically the limited edition avocado bacon burger. It’s a very yummy sandwich of a beef patty, topped with avocado, creamy pepper sauce, tomatoes, onions, bacon and American cheese and is served on Texas Toast.

It’s to celebrate the introduction of fresh avocados at the Texas chain.

As Whataburger’s vice president of marketing and innovation Rich Scheffler says, “Our customers’ feedback is really important, and they have asked us for avocado. With a fresh ingredient like avocado and our dedication to quality, it’s taken some time to make sure we get this right.”

Let me just say that a nice Texas wine plus a Texas sandwich with fresh avocado while sitting on my balcony watching the world go by made for a very nice summer lunch.

I love avocados. This delicious fruit from Central Mexico trees has been eaten for thousands of years although I doubt I ever ate one until I came to Texas (back in the Dark Ages) and had guacamole at a Tex-Mex restaurant. I was hooked at first taste.

I love guacamole, I make mine with garlic, and love them on sandwiches and salads and even just as a snack with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. But not everyone is a fan.

Turns out my dad has never eaten an avocado. Or tasted guacamole. Say what?

Once, at a holiday family reunion in Florida, a cousin of mine decided to make a dish he had eaten at a New York City restaurant: Crab salad stuffed into a half avocado. Unfortunately he came back from the store with the ingredients for the seafood salad and four rock hard avocados.

Needless to say, there were no stuffed avocados that night. However, I did introduce him to the brown paper sack method of ripening so we did get the meal the next night.

Avocados, while being high in fat, are very heart-healthy, anti-inflammatory agents, promote blood sugar regulation and there is some evidence they help prevent cancers. Plus they just taste so darn good in the summer heat.

And even though I’ll never give up my guacamole, here’s an easy recipe for a chilled summer soup of avocado, melon and yogurt I’ve adapted from a recipe I found on Huffington Post. The original uses onion and fat free yogurt.

Either way I doubt Dad will eat it.

Ingredients
2 avocados, pitted and peeled
1 cup vegetable stock
1 eight to nine ounce container of Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 ripe cantaloupe
1/3 cup fresh basil for garnishing
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted, for garnishing
Directions
In a processor, blend the avocado, stock, yogurt and lemon juice, until smooth. Add the zest and season to taste. Spoon into bowls.
Using a melon baller, scoop the melon into small balls and place a few in each bowl. Garnish with fresh basil and toasted pine nuts.

I love avocados. This delicious fruit from Central Mexico trees has been eaten for thousands of years.

Photo courtesy of SiLive.com

I love avocados. This delicious fruit from Central Mexico trees has been eaten for thousands of years.