Guacamole (Garden Style)

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This Guacamole recipe and photos are courtesy of Cynthia Detterick-Pineda of Andrews, TX. Check out more of Cynthia's Southwest Cooking Recipes.

Avocados are wonderful fruits, and very good for you, despite the high fat content. The fat stored in avocados is monounsaturated and can even help in the battle of the bulge. It helps to keep you feeling full and it can be a metabolism booster. Avocados are truly wonderful things, and perhaps someday I will be able to grow my own little tree, but until then I will just make a trip to the market to stock up on those alligator pears.

When you look at the Nahuatl work ajuactl, and the Spanish word for certain blended sauces, mole, you can see how the two came together to be Guacamole. The Spanish/Mexican word for a soup made of avocados is ahuacamolli [ah-wah-kuh-moh-lee], which sounds much like guacamole when pronounced correctly. 

Guacamole can be found on the menu at many Mexican food restaurants, and it is possible to be just a bit different at each restaurant. Therefore, this recipe may not seem like what you have eaten as guacamole, but it can always be changed to your preferences. Guacamole is very simple to make, and you can take quite a few freedoms in how you make it, even what you put in it. This recipe is for a basic “chunky” style guacamole.

Learn all about Avocados and Avocado History. Check out my Appetizer Recipes and Avocado Recipes for more great cooking ideas.

Guacamole (Garden Style)

3 large, ripe avocados, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large red onion, finely diced
1 or 2 ripe jalapeño chile peppers, seeds removed and finely diced
1 clove garlic, crushed with 1/8 teaspoon coarse or sea salt
1/8 teaspoon red chile powder
1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 large tomato, diced (optional)

To cut the avocado, place it in the palm of your hand and insert a sharp knife with a blade at least 2 inches longer than the avocado.  Without moving the knife, roll the avocado around, slicing it top to bottom and back to the top. A gentle twist will separate the two halves of the avocado, exposing the meat and the seed inside. To remove the seed, carefully “hit” the seed with the knife so it pierces it about 1/4 inch or so. Turn the knife with the seed, and it will come loose from the inner flesh so you can easily lift it up and out of the avocado. To remove the seed from your knife, pinch the seed by placing your fingers over the knife blade (blunt side) and squeeze as though you are pinching the end of the avocado. It should pop off from the knife and fall freely. 

Score the inner meat with a butter knife both horizontally and laterally. These will be the cubes when the skin is turned towards inside out. If the avocado is ripe flesh should fall out as the skin is turned. Repeat this with the remaining avocados. Place the cubes into a medium sized bowl. 

Add the onion, jalapeño chile peppers, garlic, salt, and chile powder. Mix with a fork, mashing some but not all of the cubes of avocado. Add the lemon juice and stir well. The lemon will help delay some of the oxidation, but not all. NOTE: If the guacamole is stored overnight, you may have a dark, discoloration over it the next day. This will not hurt you, and will not change the taste.  Just mix the guacamole well and the rest, restoring its appearance to a light green, will envelop the darker areas.

There is an oldwives tale that leaving the seed of the avocado in the guacamole will help prevent this oxidation from occurring.  I have never seen it work, but I do it simply because that is the way I have always seen it done. If I am going to serve this to company however, I may try to hide the seed by covering it with the end of a lemon, or some jalapeno slices.

Adding diced tomato to your guacamole is common in the area I live in. I do like the addition of tomato, but it will not keep as long when this is done. I will generally chop some fresh tomato and serve it in a small bowl to the side, allowing guest to add tomato to their guacamole as they please. 

Makes 4 servings.