How To Make Great Guacamole

Taste buds are a funny, funny thing.

When I was young – and when I say young, I really mean up until probably three years ago – I wouldn’t eat anything that didn’t fit into the meat, potato, grain or pasta categories. Vegetables, for the most part, were a big no-no for me and fruits were even more non-existent in my diet.

Then, out of the blue, I started trying all kinds of different foods. Maybe it was my trip to Japan (about seven years ago) that opened my thought process or the fact that a man can eat only so many steak and potato dinners (Author’s Note: The maximum quantity of steak and potato dinners a man can in a lifetime eat is still TBD. Research is ongoing…). Regardless of the reason, I started exploring lots of different foods and found that I enjoyed most of them.

There were still a few certain items that, despite my new-found and expanded palate, I still steered clear of for one reason or another. I was scarred as a child with zucchini and will undoubtedly not eat that any time soon. Mushrooms have always been something that has boggled me – it’s a fungus! Avocados were also on this list. I could never get over the texture and the creaminess. In my mind, vegetables should just not have those kind of characteristics.

Due to this self-admittedly stupid idiotic point of view, I avoided guacamole like the plague. If guacamole showed up with my meal, I would scrape it off of everything, making sure to not even eat anything that had been ‘contaminated’ by it. I couldn’t understand how people raved of this mess of food that looked like it belonged more in a diaper than on my plate.

My feelings on guacamole stayed this way for years, ruining many a Mexican dinner for me. My ridiculous hatred towards the green, creamy mixture stood firm until, on a complete whim, I whipped up a batch a few weeks ago. I was making a Mexican meal for my family and my wife loves guacamole. In what can only be described as a moment of insanity, I bought a few avocados at the grocery store and went about finding a recipe. It turns out that guacamole recipes are pretty simple so I took it upon myself to suprise her. Little did I know that I would be the one suprised.

After making the guacamole, I had some on my hands. Instead of just washing my hands, I threw extreme caution to the wind and licked it off my fingers. What I found was not a repulsive taste, but rather a concotion that was creamy in both texture and taste. There was just enough spice and heat wrapped in it to make me want more. I found a tortilla chip and dug in. I had found a new dish!

The recipe I used is shown below. It’s pretty simple and produces a quality side dish that has been appreciated by many people at my house.

Ingredients

3 Haas Avocados
1 Lime, Juiced
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 Medium Onion, Diced
2 Roma Totamtoes, Seeded and Diced
1 Tbsp Chopped Cilantro
1 Clove Garlic, Minced

Directions

Cut the avocados in half, seed them and peel them. Place in a large bowl.
Juice the lime over the avocados and toss to coat. Drain the remaining juice and save for later.
Add the salt and cayenne to the avocados. Mash them up.
Throw in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic. Mix until well meshed.
Add the lime juice to taste and let sit at room temperature for an hour before serving.

Recommendations

I’ve used this recipe for a small dinner with the immediate family and during hors d’oeuvres at a large family gathering. Make sure that you make it right before you’re going to serve it, however, as the guacamole will oxide into a brown color over time.

If you want to tweak this recipe a little bit, you can add some more heat by adding a half teaspoon of ground cumin and even some jalapeno peppers to the mix. Feel free to explore a little bit and enjoy the taste!

Go and try this recipe and let us know how it worked out for you!