Guacamole--Plain and Simple or Dress It Up

April 15, 2015

Guacamole--Plain and Simple or Dress It Up

I like avocados. I liked them even before I tasted them! You may wonder how that could be. It's this way. My mother worked in "Canada" before she married Dad. This was before Newfoundland was Canada's tenth province so it was a foreign country to Newfoundlanders. While working on the mainland my mother became exposed to foods that were not available or readily available in Newfoundland and the avocado was one of those foods. During my formative years I would hear her speak of the delicious avocados that she had eaten while working away. As we didn't have the internet in those ancient days and I never saw a picture of one in a book I was fascinated by this strange sounding food that escaped both my understanding and sight and I longed to taste the unattainable fruit.

It wasn't until I was an adult that I tasted the mysterious fruit. You'd have thought I would have run into them somewhere during my college and university years on the mainland of Canada and the United States, but I didn't. I was home in Newfoundland when I had my first taste. I don't remember that fateful moment but as I always knew, I did like avocados. I like them in salads, and in dips and in sandwiches, and scooped out on a spoon and, and, and..... There you have it, I do like avocados. I've even eaten them in a pie!

Of course, avocados are not rare items in the grocery stores anymore. You can buy them just about anywhere. And if you're lucky enough to have a Costco type of store nearby you can buy them by the bag at a very reasonable price. Last week we were visiting David and Anne and they brought home one such bag of very large avocados and I was happy to accept one to take home.

One great way to enjoy avocados in in a dip--Guacamole to be exact. You can now buy the stuff in just about any deli section of a grocery store but it's not as good as homemade. I don't know why anyone buys Guacamole because it's so easy to make. If you can cut an avocado in half you're almost finished making it.   I like it plain. No hot peppers, no cilantro, no hot sauce, no mayonnaise, no sour cream. I will bend a little and add a few chopped onions or tomatoes if I'm in the mood to do so but that's about as fancy as I get.   You can make your Guacamole to your own taste so easily.

I will tell you that fresh lime juice is best in Guacamole but the bottled stuff works well too. If you don't have limes/lime juice, lemon juice makes a good substitute but lime juice is best. (Just sayin'.) If you only have 1 avocado scale down the recipe and make yourself a small bowlful to enjoy with your meal.

Guacamole
3 ripe avocados
¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
Pinch garlic powder
2 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste (or lemon juice will work but I like the lime best)

Dress It Up Options:
2-4 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 or 2 seeded and chopped plum tomatos
Jalapenos, habanero or serrano peppers, chopped and added to taste
2 tablespoons chopped Cilantro
Hot sauce, to taste

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Scoop out the flesh and place in a large bowl. Roughly chop or mash with a pastry blender if you like chunky guacamole or mash with a fork if you like a smooth dip. If you like chunky dip gently mix in the salt, garlic powder and lime juice keeping as many chunks as you can. Of course, if you like it smooth go mad and whip away.

Add any other ingredients at this time. I like my Guacamole fairly plain so I don't usually add anything else to mine (except maybe a little onion, sometimes) but pick whatever you like.   Taste and adjust any of the seasonings.

Place in a pretty bowl and serve with nacho chips or fresh vegetables. Guacamole is also wonderful with a salad or served over beans and rice.

Refrigerate any left overs. Place plastic wrap directly on the Guacamole as it will turn brown if exposed to air. It's best to make only what you can eat at one sitting.

Makes a good sized bowl of Guacamole--enough for a party!

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit. These avocados are perfectly ripe and ready for Guacamole. An under-ripe avocado will be hard as a baseball when squeezed. A ripe avocado will have a little give but it shouldn't be soft or mushy to the touch. Avocados ripen very quickly if left on a counter at room temperature. Use them once they ripen. The large one in the front is the one David and Anne gave me.

Scoop out the flesh and place in a large bowl. I like chunky Guacamole so I used a pastry blender to mash the avocado.

Add the salt, garlic powder and lime juice. I didn't have fresh limes so bottle juice had to do. And that's all there is to it--fresh Guacamole. Add your favourite ingredients to dress it up to your liking. I like it just like this. Ben doesn't like Guacamole. He should try Nanny's. Yum, yum.