More Snacks Recipes
Guac 2.0
Ingredients
- 2 fairly ripe avocados (they should have a dark skin, and be soft to the touch, but NOT feel like they're all mushy inside)
- 2 medium-to-large tomatoes, seeded and diced (I prefer this method: http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/techniques/ss/seedtomato.htm)
- Approx. 2/3 cup diced red onion
- Approx. 2-to-3 TBSP cayenne pepper
- 1-2 TSP lime-juice
- Salt
- Olive oil
- White wine vinegar
- Optional: Guacamole Mix (add proper proportions according to the above ingredients) - I own "Lizzie's Kitchen: Chunky Guacamole Seasoning" (available here: http://www.lesleyelizabeth.com/spice.html - contains sulfites)
- Optional: Garlic Powder (common in guac mix)
- Optional: Cilantro (common in guac mix)
- Optional: 2-3 sundried tomatoes diced+chopped (found in my guac mix)Instructions
As a graduate student with a ton of interests (including cooking), I'm a huge fan of finding dishes that are fast, easy, and cheap, and then attempting to maximize the deliciousness over these constraints! Guacamole fits this role perfectly, and after many iterations of making it, I feel this one takes the cake. Most guacamole mixes don't require any actual cooking, but this one does (don't worry though - it's really quick!) Anyways, to the recipe:
DISCLAIMER: I know I have a tendency to be wordy, but I assure you the dish can be prepped easily in under 30 minutes.
1. Cut + pit the avocados, scrape the contents out into a bowl
2. Mash the avocados moderately with a fork - to give it a preliminary dip-like texture, but be sure to keep some big chunks in!
3. Here's the fun part: Pour some olive oil into a ~10inch pan and (essentially saute-ing here) and toss in your tomatoes and onions. Mix / toss etc. Let them cook for a bit (maybe just a minute)...
4. Toss in the cayenne pepper, the lime-juice, a *DASH* of white wine-vinegar (too much can easily overpower the dish), guacamole mix/optional items. Stir and cook a little more (a few minutes). Try to maximize the coverage of everything on the pan.
5. Add salt - now this really depends on how health conscious you are. If you aren't too much (like me), I think a good amount to add is a very *light* layer over the entire pan. Stir, mix, let cook a little more. You can always add more into the actual guacamole later.
6. Toss everything in the pan, into your bowl with the avocados and stir/mash thoroughly. Consider the texture you want your guacamole to have as you do this - it'll get really mushy if you're too violent (NOT necessarily a bad thing - just depends on what you're going for).
7. Depending on how "watery" the stuff in the pan was - for instance when I cooked it - a lot of the water/oil dried up - you may want to add a *slight* bit more of olive oil into your guacamole.
8. ENJOY.
9. In the event that you find your guacamole to be too salty, try using unsalted tortilla chips. Otherwise, you've learned for next time!