Simple Inspiration: Decontructed Guacamole

Avocado is my all time favorite food. I could eat it everyday at every meal and still want to eat it more. It's just so simple but rich, creamy and full of possibility. It's also really healthy, the only item with enough good-for-you-fat and nutrients that it could replace all other food in your diet. Even I wouldn't do that, but if I had to, I think I could.

The AC is aware of this other love. It was fully realized the first time we went to Mexico together and he realized I really could eat guacamole for every meal and still want more. He believes I will tire of it if I eat it too much, which I agree would be a tragedy. So, although he makes it for me, he tries to space it out a bit, which I must admit, does make me enjoy it even more. This post is about lazy guacamole, we call it deconstructed. The irony is, while it is very lazy, it stands on it's own, literally- there are no chips- and figuratively- it truly makes the best of the beauty that is a perfectly ripe avocado.

So we start there, with a perfectly ripe avocado. This used to be pretty much impossible to come by in good ol' Minnesota. When my love affair first started I would only buy them in little Mexican grocery stores on Central Avenue, and still had to put it in a paper bag for a day to ripen. Now they are everywhere and while it still takes about ten highly focused minutes evaluating a  box at the grocery store, you can get them ready to eat. It just takes patience and a little know how. First you want it to be soft, you should be able to squeeze it lightly and feel a fair amount of give. Second, feel around to see if there are any hollow spots, you'll know when you try to do this, it literally feels like the skin has separated from the fruit, don't buy it, it's too ripe. When I find a good one I'll buy another that's slightly under-ripe so I can eat it in the next couple days, once they're ripe you need to eat them.

After you've found the avocado, it's super simple. Cut the fruit in half, lengthwise, remove the seed by putting your sharp knife into it and pulling it out while twisting the nut. Remove the meat with a spoon, scooping in one smooth movement. Discard the shell. Place the avocado face down on the serving plate and slice into 1/2" size pieces, keeping the original shape. Squeeze the juice of a slice of lime over the avocado, add some salt, black pepper and a chili pepper. Don't use jalapeno, the tastes are not complementary. We use either Thai chili or habanero from our garden, if you don't have taste buds that can withstand nuclear heat, use a serrano pepper diced very small or a sprinkle of cayenne is good too. Add as much as you like. Then sprinkle with cilantro or parsley.  And you're done. This is great as a side for summer dishes, added to antipasto meals as a palate cleanser, it goes awesome with eggs for breakfast, or just a perfect mid-afternoon snack. Simple inspiration, it's the best kind.