How to Make Homemade Salsa and Guacamole Duo: A Short Cut to More Flavor

Mexican food is one of the most popular cuisines out there and one that is easy enough for home cooks to make themselves. Salsa and guacamole are essential additions to any Mexican meal. Sure, you can buy salsa from the store and there are some pretty good pre-made guacamoles available now a days as well, but nothing beats homemade. I’ve always loved salsa. When I was about 12 I developed ‘Jennifer’s Hot Stuff’. It was a cooked salsa that was great on bean dip, or to add to other cooked dishes, but wasn’t the best dip for chips. On the other hand, guacamole was not something I enjoyed. It was very fresh tasting, but seemed bland to me. I like some heat and spice. One day I was eating out with a friend from work at a local Mexican restaurant. The first thing she did when we the chips, salsa, and guacamole was delivered to our table was pour the salsa over the guacamole. It was an ‘ah-ha’ moment for me and led to me developing my salsa and guacamole duo.

Note: One of the great things about this recipe is that you can adjust the ingredients to meet your own tastes. If you like it hot you can add another pepper or use a hotter variety. If you prefer white or yellow onions to red you can switch that as well.

Four Tomatoes

Two Jalapeno Peppers

One Medium Red Onion

Three Garlic Cloves

Two Tablespoons of Fresh Cilantro

Fresh Ground Pepper

Kosher Salt

Two Ripe Avocados

Juice from one Lime

Salsa

1. Chop the tomatoes and put them in a medium size bowl.
2. Slice the peepers in half-length wise and remove the veins and seeds (if you like hotter salsa, feel free to leave them in). Chop the peppers into very small pieces and add to the bowl.
3. Peel and chop the onion and add on top of the peppers
4. Peel the garlic and smash it on the cutting board with the flat side of your knife before chopping finely. Add to bowl.
5. Rinse and dry the cilantro and remove the leaves from the stems. Roll the leaves and slice in a chiffonade (roll the leaved as tightly as possible and slice thinly. Add to bowl.
6. Stir to mix ingredients together.
7. Add fresh ground pepper and kosher salt to taste
8. Take one third of the salsa and put it in a Bullet or Ninja type blender and blend.
9. Added blended salsa back to bowl and stir.

Guacamole

1. Take the avocados and slice around the perimeter and twist to separate halves.
2. Smack the pit with the blade of your knife and twist to remove.
3. Slice the avocado while still in the skin – be careful not to cut through to your hand.
4. Slice lengthwise into five sections, and then slice across into about eight sections. The number of slices depends on the size of the avocado.
5. Scoop out avocado with a large spoon.
6. Smash slightly with fork
7. Stir in the juice of one line
8. Add fresh ground pepper and kosher salt to taste
9. Take ½-1 cup of the salsa and stir into the avocado mixture.

Serve salsa and guacamole with tortilla chips