23 Jul, 2010
Holy Moly Guacamole: a recipe that might make you cry
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Recipes and Food
The girls slept over at their grandparents the other night and Mark went out with friends, leaving me flying solo. You know what I had for dinner? Tortilla chips and guacamole. I told Emma the next day and she didn’t quite believe that I didn’t make myself a well-balanced meal. In fact, I could see the wheels turning in her brain: So! Eating what you want for dinner is one of the benefits of being a grown-up!?
The short answer: YES.
The truth is, I really didn’t feel like cooking. What was the point? Besides avocados are one of the healthiest fruits you can eat! The health benefits of avocados are enormous. They are high in “good fat” and can help lower cholesterol.
So I turned to my favourite guacamole recipe. It’s a keeper. Guacamole is one of my favourite appetizers (disregard the fact that I was eating it for dinner). I serve it with tortilla chips, nachos, tacos and quesadillas too.
You will need:
1/4 red onion (or to taste)
1 firm, medium-size ripe tomato
2 ripe avocados
1 fresh jalapeno pepper (I just used half of one because that’s all I had)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional – not everyone likes cilantro. I LURVE IT. And it will make your guacamole taste more sophisticated.)
juice of 1/2 fresh lime
tiny pinch of sea salt
Grab a bowl. Using the course side of your grater, grate the onion and the tomato right into the bowl. Discard the last bit of tomato skin in your hand. I don’t want to be responsible for grated fingers.
Leave some of the accumulated juice. Good guacamole is not too thick, not too thin either. It’s a mighty fine balance.
Grate the jalapeno into this mixture too. WARNING: It’s best to wear gloves (a plastic produce bag over your hand works too) and do not under any circumstances let the jalapeno juice come in contact with your eyes/lips or any other kind of soft tissue. TRUST ME.
Slice the avocado in half, and separate. Behold its beauty before you go any further:
Remove the pit and scoop out the innards with a small spoon. Using a fork or a potato masher, mash avocado into the tomato/onion/jalapeno mixture.
Take your 1/2 lime and, using your bare hands, squeeze the juice straight into the bowl. (Skip the juicer, this is more fun. And your kitchen will smell nice. Get your fingers right in there. You’ll end up with a tablespoon or so of juice.) Discard peel.
Add cilantro.
Mix with spoon. Decorate with cilantro that you did NOT find on the floor.
It’s not pretty, is it, but it’s GOOD.
Cover (you should put plastic wrap directly on top) and pop it in the fridge to let the flavours meld. (I was only able to wait 10 minutes. It was too close to dinnertime.)
Whether you’re serving it with tortilla chips or tacos, make sure there’s a beer somewhere around, because for some reason guacamole and beer go really well together.
I picked up these really good (and patriotic!) white and red corn tortilla chips at Produce Depot on Carling! Yum.
It was so.good. (By the way, Mark had some too, so please don’t think I ate the whole bowl.)
Let me know if you tried this recipe!
