guacamole

The best guacamole recipe ever

14 · Jun 12, 2017 · 2 Comments

If you want to make the best guacamole, there are a few things you need to know. I swear by this recipe, but also by these tips that help make it the best it can be.

Not all guacamole is created equal, and it’s much easier to screw up than one might think. And since avocados are sometimes a splurge in your grocery budget, you really don’t want to waste them with bad guacamole. There are some common mistakes people make that cause their guac to suck: mashing the avocado so much that it’s totally smooth, adding too much of one ingredient so it throws off the flavor balance, not enough flavor so the whole thing is totally bland, or the opposite – too salty.

I’m not bragging (OK, I am totally bragging) but everyone I know who has ever eaten my guacamole has said that I make the best guacamole ever….

BLT guacamole

1 · Jan 20, 2015 · 5 Comments

This post is part of a compensated campaign with Farmland® and Latina Bloggers Connect. All opinions and the recipe here are my own.

BLT guacamole is a mashup of two of my favorite things: A classic bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich and avocado. Whenever I make a BLT sandwich, I usually like to add a little sliced avocado and some homemade chipotle mayo.

This recipe is a lot like a BLT — the only thing missing is the bread. (Although you could eat this guacamole on toast as an open-faced sandwich, too.)

RELATED TIP: How to keep guacamole fresh and green…

Happy National Guacamole Day!

0 · Sep 16, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Is it a coincidence that National Guacamole Day happens to fall on Mexican Independence Day? We think not! But whatever the case, we love guacamole any day of the year. September 16 is National Guacamole Day, though, so here’s your free pass to enjoy this treat and celebrate both holidays at once!

If you love guacamole as much as I do, you can check out some of my guacamole recipes and tips here on The Other Side of The Tortilla (just click on the image to go to the recipe):

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Guacahummus

0 · Jul 29, 2013 · 6 Comments

Guacahummus sounds a lot like what you might imagine it to be… guacamole (sort of) mixed with hummus. Actually it’s a blend of hummus, avocados and lime juice. I served this simple, healthy dish at my #iloveavocados live party with Avocados From Mexico recently and surprisingly, most of my guests were having it for the first time. The dish was definitely a hit—they scraped every last morsel out of the bowl.

The main reason why this dish is so great—aside from being very healthy—is that you can make a semi-homemade version with a store-bought hummus of your choice (I like Sabra’s classic hummus), which helps you get this dish from food processor to plate in about five minutes. I use a 3-cup Cuisinart mini prep (available in my Amazon aStore, El Mercadito), which fits the ingredients perfectly. A bonus: This recipe is both vegetarian and vegan-friendly and is also gluten-free.

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Fruity guacamole with pineapple and pomegranate

0 · Jul 4, 2013 · 3 Comments

This fruity guacamole recipe that includes pineapple and pomegranate seeds for a little touch of sweetness, and red onion and garlic for a little touch of savory.

I recently made several versions for a game night gathering, and this one was the quickest to disappear.

If you’d rather not mix sweet and savory, you can leave out the jalapeño and garlic if you prefer. But after trying this recipe, nobody was eating the classic guacamole recipe I brought! I love to buy a whole bag full of avocados and make several different versions for parties because it’s so easy to do. Just keep the base the same with avocado, garlic, lime juice and salt, split up the base between several bowls, and add other ingredients as you like. It looks fancy but takes very little time to do.

I use red onion when I make guacamole with fruit because they’re less pungent, have a milder onion flavor, and still give you an added texture and crunch. You can substitute white onion if you prefer, but it will have a different taste. Red onion complements the sweetness of the fruit better, while white onion can overpower the delicate taste of the pomegranate and sweet acidity of the pineapple.

This nontraditional recipe is perfect for any party or get-together with family or friends, especially if they’ve never had anything but classic guacamole before. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!

One last note: Always use fresh-squeezed lime juice over the bottled kind. The flavor becomes dull and sometimes bitter due to time since bottling means it’s pasteurized and has preservatives in it. The brightness from fresh lime juice can’t be matched by the bottled stuff.

This fruity guacamole recipe with pineapple and pomegranate is gluten-free and vegan-friendly. …

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TASTE TEST: Trader Joe’s Chunky Spicy Guacamole Auténtico and Cantina Corn Tortilla Chips

3 · Apr 4, 2013 · 1 Comment

I’m a supermarket skeptic and like to try the “Mexican” products sold in some mainstream markets because I know that not everybody has access to the kind of markets where I like to regularly shop. And I use quotes to say “Mexican” because sometimes I find that the product is really not worthy of the label. A lot of friends, family and longtime readers of The Other Side of The Tortilla are always asking me if I’ve tried certain products or if I can recommend replacement products for things not commonly sold where they live. So, I’ve decided to start writing about some of the products that I’ve taste-tested to share with you.

During my first few weeks living in LA, I was desperate to get my hands on certain foods but either didn’t have the time or transportation to go looking very far for what I really wanted. I taste-tested a lot of products during that time, and Trader Joe’s happened to be the most conveniently located store on my route to and from work. Good guacamole was one thing I was craving and I hadn’t seen this Trader José’s Chunky Spicy version before so I gave it a try.

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National Guacamole Day? ¡Órale!

1 · Sep 18, 2012 · Leave a Comment

So, we didn’t know this was a thing… but it is! Apparently, Sept. 16 is also National Guacamole Day. Not that we need a holiday or an excuse to prompt us to eat guacamole, pero bueno…

Since we missed it by a day and we don’t have time (or any ripe aguacates) to whip up a fancy guacamole to celebrate, we thought we’d just remind you of the resources already available here on The Other Side of The Tortilla for all your guacamole needs if you feel like celebrating this week:

Simple guacamole recipe The best how-to guide to keep your guacamole green

Mark your calendars, because we read that November 14 is National Spicy Guacamole Day!

What’s your favorite non-standard ingredient to put in guacamole?

How to keep your guacamole fresh and green

311 · Jun 1, 2012 · 20 Comments

There’s an easy way to keep guacamole fresh and green—without using the pit, adding too much salt, covering it with water, milk or any of the other “tricks” you might find with a quick Google search. If you’ve ever woofed down a whole bowl of guacamole just to keep it from going brown in the refrigerator, your life is about to be changed. I promise this tip is the green-guacamole-for-days jackpot!

My family is always asking me to make guacamole. Always. I make it for parties and barbecues, when people casually drop by and even when somebody calls and asks, “if I drop off the ingredients, will you make it for me?” My dad is by far the biggest culprit of the weekend phone call requesting a drive-by guacamole drop-off. I used to tease him that if it weren’t for the guacamole, he wouldn’t stop by as often.

But with a jam-packed schedule and some travel time occasionally involved on one or both ends to get the ingredients and then deliver the goods to their final destination, it’s not always easy to make the guacamole and deliver and serve it right away. Yet, nobody would ever know that it’s usually been in the refrigerator for a full day beforehand because my guacamole always arrives perfectly green and fresh as if I just made it.

I’m going to reveal a method and kitchen tip that is going to turn you into a guacamole hero. But be warned; I can’t be held responsible if friends and family start calling to drop off ingredients because you earn a reputation for having the greenest guacamole they’ve ever seen!

Need a basic guacamole recipe? I’ve got you covered. Also check out my fruity guacamole recipe with pineapple and pomegranate seeds. You might also like my mango guacamole recipe.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR GUACAMOLE FRESH AND GREEN

STEP 1: Choose avocados that are barely ripe. They should give only very slightly when you press the skin. Prep all the ingredients (onion, chile, lime, tomato, cilantro, etc.) before you cut the avocados open. The flesh should not be too creamy/soft when you open them and you shouldn’t find brown or dark spots on the flesh at all.

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Tacos de rib eye

5 · May 8, 2012 · 3 Comments

I’ve been buying thinly sliced rib eye and grilling it to serve as tacos for years, but the truth is that it can get kind of boring. I recently came up with a flavorful and easy fix that is literally only one ingredient but makes a world of difference: ponzu sauce. Yes, you read that correctly, I said ponzu sauce! I knew I had to share this recipe when my husband and chief taste-tester raved about this dish, even days after I served it.

No, ponzu sauce isn’t a Mexican ingredient, but it bears some striking similarities to the popular seasoning sauce known as Maggi that is widely consumed in Mexico. You may remember reading about Maggi here before in my cebollitas recipe, which is basically just grilled spring onions, lime juice and Maggi—a succulent side dish that also pairs well with these tacos.

What’s great about ponzu sauce is that it’s similar to Maggi in taste, already has a hint of citrus so adding lime juice isn’t necessary (but you still can, if you want), and ponzu is much lower in sodium per tablespoon than Maggi.

If it’s any indication how good it is, I’ve whipped this recipe up for dinner three times in the last two weeks and gotten no complaints about repeating the same dish. I’ve served it each time with a different salsa to make it just a little different. With grilling season right around the corner, this dish is definitely going to be my secret weapon for summer barbecues. Let me know how you like it!

RECETA | RECIPE

TACOS DE RIB EYE

1 lb. thinly sliced rib eye (about 1/4 inch thick)
1/2 cup Mitsukan ponzu sauce for the meat plus 1/8 cup for cebollitas
1 bunch of cebollitas (in English they’re called spring onions; they look like scallions but with a bulbous end instead of straight and skinny)

Directions:
FOR THE MEAT
Marinade the meat with 1/2 cup ponzu sauce for 30 minutes in a zippered plastic bag. Discard the liquid and bag, and grill meat over medium-high heat just long enough for each side to get grill marks and cook through.

FOR THE CEBOLLITAS
Use as much or as little ponzu as you’d like. You can choose whether to use the ponzu to soak the onions in advance, or pour over them or use as a dipping sauce after grilling. If you choose to soak them, you can put them in a shallow bowl and use about 1/8 cup-1/4 cup of ponzu sauce. Reserve the sauce if you’d like to use it again as a garnish or dip after grilling.

Serve meat with cebollitas and corn tortillas. These tacos also go great with guacamole or a fresh green salsa.

Yields 2 servings or about 6-8 tacos.

How do you dress up your basic rib eye tacos?

Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored series to promote Mizkan cooking wines, vinegars, sauces and marinades. We also received product samples and promotional material from Mizkan to assist in preparing this post. All opinions and recipes in this series are our own.

Wordless Wednesday: Guaca-tacos

0 · Mar 21, 2012 · 2 Comments

I posted this photo on Instagram last week as I was eating leftover guacamole in the form of tacos, also known in my household as guaca-tacos.

You can find my guacamole recipe here. Sometimes I like to substitute red onion for white onion (like I did here, though it’s difficult to tell from the photo). It’s a substitution I picked up from my mom since she normally makes her guacamole with red onions.

Do you ever eat guacamole tacos?

Classic guacamole recipe

5 · Sep 16, 2010 · 5 Comments

¡Feliz Día de la Independencia, México!

Did you watch the Grito last night?

In my house, we hung papel picado and waved our Mexican flag as we watched the celebration starting in Mexico City’s zócalo. My heart was filled with emotion seeing the zócalo, where I have stood in awe many times, brimming with people from all corners of Mexico to celebrate the bicentennial of Independence from Spain and 100 years since the Revolution.

If you missed the Grito, the shout of independence honoring Mexico’s national heroes, you can watch it here:

If you want to watch last year’s Grito and attempt a very traditional Independence Day recipe, you can check out the chiles en nogada I made and posted last year here on The Other Side of The Tortilla….