Chunky Guacamole Salad

Contemporarily, most people have come to think of guacamole as a pasty dip, probably due to the convenience of the blender. When I was young, we did not have a blender in our home, and all the ingredients were cut and processed by hand. But guacamole was still more of an appetizer or a side.

Later on, when I began leaning towards vegetarianism, I developed this style of guacamole, which turns it into a main dish for a great lunch or a light dinner. As with most of my culinary preparations, there is much room for adaptability here, and I will try to refer to the possible variations without making this more complicated than it needs to be.

Firstly, I would like to share some trivia about the main ingredient in guacamole – the avocado. Avocados were first cultivated in South Central Mexico about 10,000 years ago. In the early 1900s, avocados frequently went by the name alligator pear. The Hass avocado is named after postal worker Rudolph Hass, who purchased a seedling in 1926 from a California farmer and patented it in 1935.

The word ‘avocado’ is a distortion or grammatical development of the word ‘ahuacatl’ (awa-kat), from the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. The word ‘mole’ (móh-leh) or ‘moli’ originally meant ‘concoction’ but has come to mean ‘sauce’ in contemporaneous times. So, basically, guacamole is an avocado concoction or sauce.

Traditional recipes can call for any of the following besides the avocados: tomato, onion, garlic, lemon or lime juice, any and/or all kinds of peppers, cilantro (coriander), and cumin.

Picking out avocados can be tricky. Ideally, one should have a friend who knows how, or one could ask the produce person at the store. If you are on your own, look for the darker ones that still show tinges of green in the peel. Try to find ones that are smoother and rounder. If you gently squeeze the bright green ones, you will notice they are hard – not ready to use. If they are black and squishy, they are over-ripe – no good. If you gently squeeze (thumb and finger) the darker ones, and they feel firmlysoft, they are ready.

I often buy the bright green hard ones and let them ripen on the counter for a couple of days, so they don’t have to be used the very day I buy them. And once ripe, they can be refrigerated for a day or two. Any dark spots on the flesh can be cut away and the white or light green parts can be used. I like avocado chunks in my green salads too.

If you have never made guacamole, I suggest you try the following recipe as written. I’ve tried to keep it very basic. Then, you can experiment on your second venture. It’s all about taste and what you like more of.

The Recipe

This is what the initial steps should look like.

This is what the finished product might look like before it sets overnight.

This is merely a serving suggestion. Flour tortillas are just as good and a little easier to work with. Pita bread? Why not.

To begin, this is what you will need:

> 2 plump ripe avocados

> 2 small-medium ripe tomatoes

> 2 – 3 Tbs Pace Picante Chunky Salsa®

(Many people make their own salsa, and it is entirely your preference as to how spicy you want it. Some people use the ‘pico de gallo’ type; this is a little too intense for me. I have found the Pace brand ideal for this purpose, and they use real and fresh ingredients. The main requirement is to keep it chunky.)

> 1 – 2 Tbs mayonnaise or Miracle Whip®

> 2-3 little green onions, chopped to ¼ inch pieces or smaller (for convenience or timesaving, 1/2 – 1 tsp onion powder will do)

> 1 – 2 cloves of garlic, minced (or 1/2 – 1 tsp garlic powder)

1/2 – 1 tsp chili powder (If you are using your own salsa, you could skip the chili powder, but cumin and cilantro are part of some peoples’ preferences.)

> 1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped (or 1/2 – 1 tsp cayenne pepper) (You can use a little of both, but be mindful of how spicy it might be.)

ground black pepper (This is optional, and the equivalent of a 1/2 tsp sprinkled in should suffice.)

This is what you do:

Chop the tomatoes into bite sized chunks, removing the wet part with the seeds and keeping only the pulp with the peel. Doing this will keep it from getting too watery. Cut the avocados into bite sized chunks as well.

Put these in a large bowl.

Gently stir in the picante sauce being careful to not break up the avocados too much, you want it to stay rather chunky.

Add mayonnaise and spices and gently stir to combine.

Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary.

Place (or leave) the guacamole in a bowl and gently pat it down to removeany air pockets. Sprinkle additional seasonings on top if desired (These can be powdered onion, powdered garlic, cayenne, and/or black pepper). Cover tightly and let sit in the refrigerator overnight so the flavors can mingle.

This can be served on a bed of lettuce, with some garbanzos thrown in.

Or you can heat up some corn tortillas and make taquitos with it. Traditional sides are pinto or chili beans and Mexican-style rice.

You can get up to six servings out of this, depending on how you serve it.

r. nuñez, 6/2015