Fresh, Homemade Guacamole

I don’t know about the rest of you, but summertime food at our house is, more often than not, Mexican or Mexican-inspired. I never ate any of it as a kid, because there were no Mexican restaurants or even fast food places serving it where we lived (the hinterlands of Northeastern Oregon). My introduction to Mexican food, as with so many other things, came when I moved to Eugene, Oregon to attend the University of Oregon.

College students always have their own favorite fast foods. Mine had the distinction of being things I had never eaten at home: (1) Pietro’s pepperoni pizzas (nope, I had never eaten pizza before going to college); (2) McDonald’s fishwiches, which had tartar sauce on them—never had tasted that before; and (3) Taco Time tacos—I don’t think Taco Bell was around yet, nor was Azteca or any of the other many restaurants featuring Mexican food. Since at one point I lived across the street from the Taco Time, I ate a fair number of tacos back then! While I now only eat pizza or McDonald’s on rare occasion, it was the beginning of my love affair with Mexican food.

Granted, like many other Americans of the time, I couldn’t handle anything very spicy, though I loved the flavors of spicy food. Boyfriends on double dates would always challenge each other to contests as to who could eat the hottest food, but I just worked my way up to it. Nowadays I can well tolerate medium-plus hot food, but I still like to be able to taste what I’m eating. No habaneros for me, thank you! Nowadays I even grow and dry my own cayenne and jalapeno peppers (something else my family didn’t do), so I have them on hand at all times.

One thing I’ve discovered along the way is that any kind of dish always tastes better when you make it yourself. The ingredients are fresher and unadulterated by additives, plus, you can tailor the dish to suit your own tastes. Don’t like a certain ingredient? No problemo, just leave it out. Can’t handle nuts or gluten? There are many foods available that are gluten- or lactose-free, plus you can always leave out the nuts, too. Don’t want lots of extra fat? Just substitute low fat or fat-free ingredients. Easy peasy.

Of course, many Mexican foods and ingredients have since been adopted into North American culture and are considered convenience foods, such as salsa or tortillas, and you can buy pretty good renditions of those items. Nothing beats making your own from scratch, though, as I can testify after learning to make my own guacamole, salsa, and tortillas. Tonight Sam and I are having tacos for dinner, so I will share my guacamole recipe with you—and believe me, you owe it to yourself to make it up fresh and not from one of those instant mixes. It doesn’t even take much more time!

Aunt Di’s Fresh Guacamole

3 medium RIPE avocadoes (they MUST be ripe or the flavor won’t be there), mashed to a paste
¼ cup finely minced onion
¼ cup finely minced cilantro
1 medium jalapeño, minced
½ medium tomato, finely chopped
Salt to taste (I usually use about ¼ tsp. but use what appeals to you)
1 tsp. lime juice (NOT the sweetened kind –use fresh lime juice if at all possible)
1 tsp. Fruit Fresh (optional)

Split avocadoes and remove seeds. Cut them in half, remove pulp with a spoon, mash the avocadoes up with a fork to make a paste, and then place it in a medium bowl. Add all the other ingredients, stirring well to combine. I add Fruit Fresh to keep the avocadoes from oxidizing and turning brown, a trick I learned from canning. Try to prepare it at least one hour ahead of time, so the flavors can marry; cover and chill until ready to serve. It may be used as a condiment or a dip with chips. Plan to use it up within at most a day or two, because it will turn an unappetizing brown otherwise, even when using the Fruit Fresh.

Enjoy!