No need to fear avocado; making guac is super easy

Holy guacamole: it’s so good and there’s not much to making it, mainly getting over your fear of the avocado.  I’d say the second of June is a good day to learn how.  If you’re already a pro at this, just skip this part (but you might like the recipe). Why go to the trouble to make it when there’s ready-made guac in the grocery store, you wonder?  Try it one time and you’ll be a convert. Homemade is so simple and full of fresh flavor and goodness. Plus, it will give you the reputation of being a good cook.
Choose four ripe, fresh Hass avocados.  Peel and seed the dark green fruits, then cut the soft inside into chunks and drop into a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Now mash with a fork but leave a few chunks. Gently stir in about ¼ cup minced white onion, 1 ripe Roma tomato that you’ve seeded and diced, and salt and pepper to taste.  I’d start with ¼ teaspoon sea salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.  And there you have it.  If you’ve adventurous add 2 chopped and seeded serrano peppers and a tablespoon or less of chopped fresh cilantro.  Muy Bueno!
But wait, you say, how does one choose an avocado?  Well, you test it.  Avocados do not ripen on trees; they soften after harvest.   And you cannot go by color. A darker green doesn’t necessarily mean that an avocado is at perfect ripeness. Gently squeeze…gently with a light hand. If the fruit yields to a firm but gentle pressure in the palm of your hand it’s ready to use right away.
But avocados will ripen on the counter at room temperature or more slowly in the refrigerator, so choose the degree of firmness you need according to your schedule.  Overripe avocados are mushy to the touch without being squeezed.  If you choose under-ripe avocados check them every day or so to catch them at their prime.
Tidbit: And, just in case you’re wondering.  Hass is not the brand or marketing name as I always thought it was.  It’s the dark green variety you most often see in the produce section of the grocery stores around here and it has a pebbly texture.  The not-so-dark green Fuerte variety has a thin, smooth skin. It also comes in cocktail size called avocaditos that are as small as tiny sweet gherkin pickles.
Peeling is easy. Wash the avocado off under cold running water first then place the fruit on a clean towel on the counter to keep it from sliding out from under the knife.  Hold the fruit down securely with your other hand, slice off a little bit of the stem end (narrow end) then cut lengthwise all the way around, all the way to the seed.  To remove the seed avocado-peeling novices should slip a spoon between the seed and the flesh and gently rotate the halves apart. Hold in the palm of one hand and twist with the other.  And when you become a pro you’ll be able to remove the seed with just one good cut!  Now peel away, but don’t waste any of the good part.  Discard the peeling, do not eat it. No.
There’s more to avocado than a good guacamole.  Because avocado is the only fruit with the good monounsaturated kind of fat (the same kind that’s found in nuts, nut butters, seeds, vegetable oils and fatty fish), it can substitute for saturated fat-containing foods like cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream without the cholesterol and with fewer calories.  There are only 50 calories in a one-ounce serving of avocado.  It works in ranch dip, as a spread on crackers or chips, on sandwiches and wraps instead of mayo, in stuffed eggs.  And a slice or two makes a good burger or BLT even better.
Love egg salad?  Chop 4 whole hard boiled eggs plus the whites of two more.  In a bowl combine half of a large peeled and pitted avocado,1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, and ½ teaspoon salt.  Now mash until smooth.  Dice the remaining avocado and add to the mixture along with the chopped eggs and ½ cup minced white onion. Mix it gently and serve as a sandwich spread or on crackers.  Or stuff a fresh tomato with it. Yummy.
Not so good cooked. Too much exposure to heat can turn a good thing into a bad thing when it comes to avocado.  It will become bitter not better.
And one more avocado tidbit, if you please. Supposedly leaving the seed in the guacamole keeps it from turning brown.  Actually, it’s the lemon juice that does. But you can if you want to. That big seed makes a good conversation starter!  Now, go try out your guacamole skills!

Recipe of the Week

Fiesta Filled Avocado
The avocado half serves as the bowl!
Just be sure to get some of the soft fruit with each bite of the filling!

1/3 cup black beans, fat-free
2 tablespoons diced fresh tomatoes
1 tablespoon diced onion
Juice of one average sized lemon
Half of one large, unpeeled Hass avocado, intact with pit removed

In a bowl, toss black beans, tomatoes and onion; squeeze in fresh lemon juice.  Stir. Spoon filling into avocado half. Can top with salsa, a dollop of fat-free sour cream and a slice of jalapeño. Great side with  fajitas or enchiladas and Spanish rice. Makes one very tasty serving.