Chunky Guacamole!

 

It's summer and nothing says summer snacking like fresh guacamole.  Fresh is the key here, so don't make it too far in advance!  The best guacamole is made to your taste - so don't sweat too much about exact measurements as long as you have all the ingredients.  Here's an easy recipe for my favorite summer pleasure.  This recipe was written for party size, but feel free to scale back for 2020 quarantine quantities.

Ingredients

5 medium avocados

2 vine ripened tomatoes (plum tomatoes work well too) diced

3/4 c. diced red onions

3 cloves garlic

lime juice (I used two small limes but several tablespoons will work)

3 Tablespoons cilantro

sea salt to taste

red pepper to taste

Before you start, make sure your avocado is ripe and know the right way to cut an avocado.  A ripe avocado is a slightly darker color and is softer.  To slice the avocado, grip it in one hand and put the blade of the knife vertically in the side of the avocado and slice top to bottom.  Shift the avocado in your hand and repeat on the opposite side, creating a single slice around the avocado.

Holding the avocado with both hands on either side of the slice, twist gently and separate.  Remove the pit and score the avocado.  Finally, turn each side of the avocado inside out and use a butter knife to scrape it off the skin.

   

Notice the pits in there too?  To keep your avocados (and resulting guacamole) from turning brown quickly, keep the pit and stick it in the middle.  When you cover guacamole for storage, use a plastic cling wrap and make sure it touches the guacamole in the bowl.  Now, back to your recipe.

Chop tomatoes, onion, cilantro and garlic. (I cheated and used jar garlic)

Go back to your avocados and squeeze the juice of two small limes over the top.  The key to your own special recipe for guacamole is adding lime juice and cilantro to taste.  After adding the lime juice, gently MASH the avocados, using a fork or a potato masher.  Don't MUSH them.  The best guacamole is not pureed or even smooth, but has chunks of avocado.  MASH don't MUSH!

Add the other ingredients and gently stir to mix them.  Again, be careful not to mush your avocados or tomatoes.

Guacamole is great with so much more than chips.  Try it on a burger or chicken breast or even on toast for a little kick to your ordinary avocado toast.  This is perfect for your low carb or keto diet and tastes so good!  Enjoy!

cindy