Great Quick And Easy Christmas Party Dip Ideas: Guacamole Dip Shaped Like A Wreath

I saw a recipe for this in the Costco Cookbook that they were giving out last weekend here in town. What caught my eye about this recipe was that it was SO simple as you make it in a Ziploc bag.  You smash it up a bit but you want some chunks of avocado left in for presentation. Their recipe sounded super but since I can't eat peppers of any variety, I decided to make my own substitution and tweak it a bit. It turned out fabulous and what a presentation! Totally great and super simple idea at this time of year with the avocado being green and then adding red accents.  The best part is it being shaped like a wreath. Try either with red peppers or with tomato - I'm sure it will be a great hit as it was at my party.

INGREDIENTS

• 5 ripe avocados
• 1/4 cup lime or lemon juice (I prefer lime)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chopped tomato (you can seed and drain a bit on paper towels to make it drier)
• Tortilla Chips - Try Red and Blue Corn for variety - or try crackers

PREPARATION

1. Rinse avocados and dry. Cut each in half, spoon out and remove the pits.
2. Spoon out the flesh of each avocado into a large Ziploc bag.
3. Add lime or lemon juice, salt and pepper.
4. Squeeze the bag to press out the air. Seal the bag.
5. Using your hands, mash the bag contents about gently leaving some chunks of avocado. Most of it should be smooth but you still want some chunky bits for presentation.
6. Snip off the corner of one end of the Ziploc bag with scissors. You have just created a pastry bag. Now ‘pipe’ a wreath shape onto your large serving plate.
7. Arrange tomato pieces decoratively around the ‘wreath’ and put chips (or crackers) in the center and serve.

NOTE/SUBSTITUTION: Super quick, super easy. The Costco Cookbook 2009 has this recipe in it but as I say, uses red bell pepper. Since I cannot eat peppers, I think tomatoes are a great substitute and retains the red/green effect - and tastes delicious.

For a non-holidays appetizer, this would be spectacular and super easy as well – just don’t pipe into a wreath shape and be creative. Pipe into another shape perhaps like a football for the Super Bowl or come up with other creative shapes for something else. Then add something other than tomato or red pepper for accent if desired.

There are other guacamole recipes in a bag on the internet and was thinking to myself why didn't I think of that? Love the idea of making your own pastry bag and piping it out.

You could do that with mashed potatoes, etc. although would want them to be slightly cooled before putting in the bag.