This is a super healthy and super easy to make dip, that is almost a like a staple in our house.

This basic recipe can easily be twisted to your own tasting by using different spices.  No dramas if you do not have all ingredients handy, as long as you have some ripe avocados you’re all good.

This recipe makes enough for 4 people.

Who connected us?!  This recipe was shared by Pablo, whom I worked with at Alfonso’s Mexican restaurant when I was a Uni student.  Originally from Mexico, Pablo started working as a chef in the Netherlands, sharing his love for honest home style Mexican food.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe avocados.
• 1 smal ripe tomato
• 1/2 small onion (red onion is nicest but any onion will do)
• half a lemon
• 1 glove of garlic (pureed)
• 1 red long chili or 2 birds-eye chilis
• 1/4 bunch of coriander
• pinch of pepper
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Start with cutting the tomato in small cubes (don’t use the hard core and green bit)
2. Finely dice the onion, you need about 1/4 cup of diced onion.
3. Chop the coriander leaves, if you do not have coriander you can use some parsley or easily do without.
4. Deseed the chili and finely chop. Don’t like the heat? Use less chili or leave it out altogether.
5. De-stone the avocados, scoop out the avocado flesh with a spoon and put the avocado in a bowl that is about 2 times the size of the avocados.
6. Add the tomato cubes, diced onion, pureed garlic, chopped coriander, chopped chilli, lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
7. Mash everything together, I use a big fork for this. You can make the guacamole as smooth as you like, I prefer mine a bit chunky rather then the very smooth avocado dips you buy in the shops, but that is personal.
8. Show off your freshly made, super healthy guacamole by serving it in a nice bowl, stack-in some tortilla chips or sprinkle some fresh coriander or parsley leaves over the guacamole if you have.

Notes:

• How to to prevent the guacamole getting discoloured? When you make the guacamole in advance and you want to prevent it from losing its bright colour put the avocado stone in the middle of the guacamole and cover the guacamole with some cling wrap.
• How to know when an avocado is ripe! You will need a ripe avocado, otherwise you can not get a smooth guacamole and it will taste bitter. Every type of avocado is different. Avocados that aren’t ripe are pale to dark green. Ripe avocados are dark green to greenish-brown, and an avocado that is dark brown to black and very soft is rotten. Avocados reach peak ripeness just before they begin to rot. If the avocado has only slightly rotten parts inside, it’s still good to eat but take the dark bits out as they taste bitter.
• Why preparing the avocado last? Avocado flesh easily changes colour after you have taken the stone out. The lemon juice prevents the guacamole from losing its bright colour. Therefore we prepare the avocado just before we mix al ingredients.
• Lower your cholesterol and increase your good cholesterol levels. Avocado is a super food. Although eating a lot of avocado is not good if you like to loose weight, up to half an avocado a day helps lowering your cholesterol levels. For more info: Pensilvania University Study.

  

• How to de-stone an avocado?

Step 1. Turn the avocado on its side. Place one hand firmly on top and the other holding the knife. Gently push the knife into the skin of the avocado. You will feel the stone in the centre, so move the knife around this. Then pull apart the 2 halves by twisting the two halves in opposite directions.

Step 2. Take the avocado half with the stone in one hand and carefully tap a chefs-knit into the stone. Then twist the knife with stone and you can take the stone out.

Step 3.  To remove the flesh out of the avocado, slide a spoon between the flesh and the skin. Bob’s your uncle.

• How to safe half an avocado? If you only use half an avocado the best way to preserve the other half is to leave the stone in and wrap the avocado in cling-wrap. You can use the avocado the next day.
• Ingredients you can add to your own tasting.

Chili: Not spicy enough, add some more chilis. Every chili is different, so I can’t tell you how spicy it is going to be exactly, try adding chillies bit by bit.
Olive Oil: To make guacamole a bit smoother (and even healthier) ad 1 or 2 tablespoons of good quality olive oil.
Lime: Don’t have lemon! use a lime.