Relatively recently, I was asked what my specialty dish was. I struggled to think of a single dish for a minute because I make every effort to cook a diverse range of dishes, but then it struck me that it was probably the dish (or dishes) I make more often than any other. Just about every single week, my kids like to have “snack night” when I “don’t cook” and we eat things like homus & bread, cheese & crackers, nuggets, & pretty much every snack night, I make guac & pico de gallo.
So yeah, my speciality dishes are probably guacamole & pic de gallo.
I also kinda love both!
(This is a pic of a 1-person serving with just 1 avocado)
My heritage is all Scottish, English, & Irish (to my knowledge), so I have no cultural, nor familial knowledge to draw on to give my guacamole any cultural authenticity, so I just want to acknowledge that this is one of my MANY inspired-by recipes.
What I do have is years of experience making it, testing different ingredients and settling on the recipe you will find below and if my kids love it, & I love it – I feel like you’re gonna love it too.
RECPIE
PREP TIME: 10 mins
COOK TIME: None. No cooking needed, just a sharp knife, a bowl, & a fork.
THIS RECIPE MAKES: Around 250ml of guacamole (depending on the size of your avocados & the relative size of their seeds).
RECIPE ADVICE: This recipe is about enough for 2-3 people. When I cook for myself & my 3 kids, I use 3 avocados & multiply everything else by 1.5 (eg. 1.5 tsp coriander, & 1.5 tsp lemon juice). We will usually have a VERY small amount leftover. My kids LOVE my guacamole.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 fresh avocados
- 2 cloves of garlic (chopped or minced)
- 1 tsp coriander (chopped. Fresh is best, but dried still tastes great) *Can be left out if you have the tastes-like-soap gene
- ¼ tsp chopped fresh chili peppers or chili flakes. I prefer jalapeños, but whichever chili pepper you prefer should work (add more if you like it hotter, less if you prefer no heat)
- ½ tsp salt (add more to taste)
- ¼ tsp ground pepper
- 1 tsp lemon or lime juice (really only to keep it from going brown or balance the salt if you accidentally go too hard with it)
- A splash of hot sauce
- OPTIONAL: 1-2 tsp fresh salsa
METHOD
Peel & seed the avocados.
Chop the coriander, chili pepper, and garlic (if you’re using fresh).
Add all ingredients to a large bowl or mixing bowl (large enough to smoosh avocado with a fork).
Smoosh it all up with a sturdy fork until it’s nice & smooth.
Test the flavour with a corn chip & add more of whatever you feel it needs to make it better for your tastebuds!
A play-by-play of me making some guac for myself the other morning (in preparation for a breakfast burrito!)
