Listen, there are VERY few green things that I will eat. Mom says our vegetable intake is in a sad state. But there is one green food in particular that we all love: guacamole.
We discovered this mysteriously good tasting green snack at family functions, where our Uncle would bring his fantastic guacamole. We have watched him make it before, and it is a boatload of work! I could not believe how specific he was about his tomato cutting and avoiding unnecessary seeds. And he chops his onions and garlic to perfection. He even uses a mortar and pestle to grind his spices!
All of that work pays off, however, as I could eat his guacamole as a meal on its own (and have.)
Enter: Cheater Guacamole
As much as I love his version, there are times when you just want to have a quick snack and that whole process is way too time-consuming. Enter: Cheater Guacamole
Our secret is that we use already-made Pico-del-Gallo from the grocery store! This is a type of salsa that is not as cooked and is not as much of a sauce. It has all of the ingredients already chopped and ready to add to the avocado and I am not left crying as I chop up a ton of onions.
The only hard part about this recipe is getting your avocados to be ripe when you need them! So many times we order them on our food pickup and they are as hard as a rock. It takes days and days before we can cut into them, so the timing can be difficult.
Avocado Timing
Trying to cut hard avocados is dangerous, as getting the pit to come out of the core can be scary. And if you wait a day too long, it can quickly turn to mush and have big brown spots that no one wants to eat.
We found this information helpful from Southern Living regarding when to use your avocados.
If you get the timing right, it is pretty easy to cut it in half, and just squeeze. As you can see, this did not turn out as easy as it should have. This particular avocado felt nice and soft on the outside, but when I cut it open, it was more firm than I had thought.
Again, where is my apron?
Obviously, this was a bit messy. I gave up on the idea of just squeezing it with my hands and ended up using a knife to cut pieces. I mashed them once they were in the bowl so that there would not be large chunks.
And then I added some Pico-de-Gallo. The amount will vary depending on how you prefer your guacamole.
And then I just added some salt and pepper and added a squirt of lime juice.
How easy is that? In a few minutes, we had lovely guacamole to put on our Shrimp Tacos (which needed a little help due to our tortillas being way too thick.)
Do you have any cheater recipes to share that we could try?
Cheater Guacamole
Ingredients
- 2 Ripe Avocados (See post for helpful hints.)
- 1/4 - 1/2 Cup Deli Style Pico-del-Gallo
- A Dash of Salt and Pepper
- 2 Teaspoons Lime Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Cilantro (if you are not scared of the green.)
Instructions
Start by cutting open your avocados and gently squeezing out the insides into a bowl. If it is needed, mash with a fork, or cut into small pieces with a knife.
Add Pico-del-Gallo, salt and pepper, and lime juice.
Mom says we have to include cutting a small amount of cilantro and adding it in also. We would skip this extra green leaf, however.
Grab some chips and enjoy!