Flatbreads with Avocado, Seasoned Red Onions, Cotija Cream Cheese Spread, and Strawberries

This is a snack to be eaten in one of two ways -

1) All proudly assembled

2) Served as components, with all the pieces to be put together on the spot, simultaneously building and eating then rebuilding your afternoon snack

The first has some merits. But the second is my favorite. The experience of finding just the right combination that works for you, of figuring out the precise balance of those bracing red onions to avocado to cream and cotija cheeses to crunchy sunflower seeds to sweet strawberry slices that makes your particular taste buds sing.

Too often, we need our snacks to be quick. To be eaten with only one hand while the other is engaged with wrangling a small child, clicking away at a keyboard, or steering the wheel of a vehicle.

Yet there is a lovely beauty in the solitude of blocking out the responsibilities of the world and concentrating on your own nourishment. Perhaps one will share this snack with others. Perhaps not. If sharing, one may find oneself in a parallel play of sorts, building your snacks side by side, suiting the snack to each individual’s taste buds. I like to call it "parallel eating."

Eventually, the snack time comes to an end, and one resumes attending to all those responsibilities that were pushed aside. But the memory of snack time lingers until dinner.

Need to ripen your avocados? This Cooking Light article will tell you how!




Ingredients
For the seasoned red onions:
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
pinch kosher salt
sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper

For the cream and cotija spread:
8 ounces cold cream cheese
4 tablespoons cotija cheese

For the avocado spread:
2 ripe avocados, mashed with a fork
drizzle of fresh lemon juice (about a teaspoon)
pinch kosher salt
sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper

1 cup sliced strawberries
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
salt and pepper, to taste
4 flatbreads, warmed

Instructions
Place the sliced red onions in a bowl. Drizzle with lemon juice, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Using a mixer, beat together cream and cotija cheeses.

Mash the avocadoes with a fork. Drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

To assemble the flatbreads, spread cream cheese mixture, then avocado mixture. Top with red onions, sunflower seeds, and strawberries. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper to taste. Especially the pepper, it truly makes the flavors pop.