Guacamole

I'm still rockin' the almost-death groceries. It's amazing all the things you can do with so few ingredients. I'll have to write a post about what I thought were "essentials" on that trip.

But for now, I'm craving guacamole.

Guacamole

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 8-10 cherry tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 small onion, diced - did you know that if you don't like the strong bite of raw onion, you can soak the diced/sliced/quartered onion in water for 30 minutes and presto! mild onion flavor
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil - because cilantro is boring and expected. It is also the only herb I have. And some people call it Devil Weed (you know who you are). Really, any green herb would work just swell; even that one, I suppose.
• juice of 1-2 limes depending upon how juicy they are and your preference
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Cooking tunes

Songza's Poolside Chic playlist, because what is sexier than Prince singing "I Wanna Be Your Lover"? Guacamole, that's what's sexier.

Preparation

1. Cut the avocado in half and take out the pit. Save the pit to stash on top of the guac so it doesn't brown...you know what? Forget the pit. You know you're going to eat the the whole damn bowl anyway. There, dinner solved. You're welcome! (But if you really want to know how to keep guac fresh, it's not using the pit)
2. Cut each half of the avocado in half again the long way so you have 4 beautiful quarters. Slide your thumb under the edge of the skin to remove (see below for photo).
3. Mash the avocado in a bowl with a fork until it's the consistency you desire, then add the remaining ingredients.
4. (At this point, if you're like me you need to run down to the beach to catch the sunset. Because I am not about to miss a sunset while I'm here. So yeah, keep the pit after all.)
5. Give it a taste. Does it need more lime juice? How's the salt? Maybe a little jalapeno? Wait a second, I didn't have that in my ingredients...that's because I couldn't find any! Sad me. Add diced jalapeno or hot sauce for spice if you wish.
6. Serve it up with chips or sliced cucumber. 

My new goal is to get a beer in every photo even if I'm not drinking it.

After quartering the avocado, slide your thumb behind the flesh to remove the skin.

Ready to mash

Mash it