Holy Guacamole!

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, it's only fair that I share with the masses my guacamole recipe. I know some of you are fussy about wanting measurements, so I'll try to oblige. But seriously, just eyeball it. Like I always say, cooking isn't brain surgery people. And in this case - it's not really cooking either. It's just preparing.

So without further adieu...

MPLT's Pretty Little Guacamole


Ingredients:

- 3 Hass avocadoes, sliced and cut into medium sized chunks
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
- 1/2 cup small diced roma tomatoes
- Juice of 1 juicy lime. There is nothing worse that squeezing a lime and getting like 2 drops of juice. Just me?
- Zest of 1/2 the lime
- 1 jalepeno, seeded and diced. I usually leave a few seeds in. I'm wild.
- If I have it, sometimes I'll pour just a teeny tiny bit of salsa verde in there. Like 1/4 cup maybe. I love tomatillos!
- Small drizzle of olive oil
- Big handful (like half the bunch) of chopped cilantro - there is no such thing as good cilantro-less guacamole.
*Sidenote: I learned recently that there is a genetic aversion some people have to cilantro. To them cilantro tastes like soap. I thought this was crazy until I mentioned it to a girlfriend on Friday (who said she doesn't like cilantro) - and she said "Oh my gosh! Exactly right. It does taste like soap." Us normal cilantro lovers can't even imagine how it could possibly taste like soap - but its a genetics thing. Crazy right? I thank God He blessed me with the "I heart cilantro" gene. I put it in everything.

Directions:

1. Smoosh (yes that's a technical term) all ingredients together and then do a happy dance.

Important things of note:

1. Fresh guacamole does not taste anything like what you get at cheapy Mexican restaurants. It's a billion times better and more flavorful.

2. Right when you cut your avocado up, squeeze fresh lime juice over it. The acid will keep it from turning your avocado brown - which is not so yummy.

3. I learned this neat trick the other day and it actually works! Do you know how when you buy cilantro from the g-store, and stick in the fridge in your little plastic bag, how it gets all slimy and gross within a day? Well next time you buy it, trim the stem by like 1/2 inch, and put it in a cup that has about an inch of water in it. Then cover it loosely with plastic wrap - 1 put a ziploc bag over mine. No joke - my cilantro lasted for more than a week. That little tip right there is reason enough to tell 5 of your nearest and dearest to check out my blog. You're welcome.

4. Never, repeat, NEVER buy "guacamole" from the grocery store. Ew. Gross.

5. And if you're going crazy and making delish homemade guac, feel free to make your own tortilla chips! Cut up some corn tortillas into wedges and fry them on the stovetop in a pan of veggie oil. Lay on papertowels to drain.

Ole!