Quick and Easy Gluten Free Guacamole

When I was a little girl we used to live in South Texas. And when I say south, I mean south. We lived in Brownsville, which is, like, 5 miles from the Mexican border. My mom and I would go out to eat and I would order a large order of guacamole and chips and eat that for dinner. Truly. It's one of my favorite foods of all time. I'm pretty sure the exposure to authentic Mexican food was the breeding ground for my grown-up tastes leaning towards Mexican all the time. Whenever we go out to dinner or go somewhere with friends, I immediately wonder if I can get a good Mexican meal out of it. And I always sample the guacamole at every Mexican restaurant I eat at. I'm like a guacamole savant. One thing I love about Mexican food, despite the wonderful concoctions of flavors that come in every meal, is that it's so easily made gluten free. Swap the flour tortillas for corn, or tortilla chips, and you're out the door.

The most important ingredient when you're making guacamole is, of course, the avocados. Make sure to choose ones that are soft and give a little bit when you touch them, but not shriveled and gushy or hard as a rock. If you do happen to buy a hard avocado, patience is your only weapon. Sit the avocado on your counter and let it ripen for a day or two. Better to wait than to try to mash avocado the consistency of cold butter. If you cut an avocado and only use half and want to save half for later, save the half with the pit in it. The pit will help keep it from going brown in the refrigerator. Avocados don't have a long half life in the refrigerator, however. Try to use the other half by the next day, if you can.

There are about a million ways to vary guacamole, and this is just one way I have made guacamole and really liked it. This is a great guacamole to eat with chips, because it's a little creamy and it dips well.

Quick and Easy Guacamole

1 avocado, pitted, scooped from skin, and mashed

1/2 roma tomato, diced

1/2 tsp onion salt

1 tsp lemon juice

1 T sour cream

Mash all ingredients together with a fork and mix well. (I prefer NOT to use a food processor. Guacamole should have chunks of avocado in it.) Serve with plain corn tortilla chips.

Happy eating, or feliz comiendo!