Holy Guacamole

I've been torn about this week's post. On the one hand, there's a post I've wanted to write for weeks that I keep putting off. Lately it seems all I've posted is recipes and recipe reviews, so I really didn't want to do that either. But it only makes sense that since Wednesday was all about avocado, I should just finish off the wave by blogging my guacamole recipe.

This one came about because after testing the two recipes I talked about earlier this week, I still had two avocados left over and I needed to use them before I had to throw them out. So I hit my favorite source for recipes (yes, I mean Pinterest) assuming I'd find a recipe for guacamole that would appeal to me. Nothing really caught my eye so I made up my own. You're welcome.

Simple, Basic Guacamole

2 avocados

1 T lime juice

½ t dry cilantro

1/8 t salt

1/8 t chili powder

dash pepper (to taste)

1 small tomato (optional)

Mash avocados

Stir in remaining ingredients

Return pit to dish (helps retard blackening of avocado)

Serve chilled

I intentionally went with chili powder instead of of cayenne because I wanted a bit of smoky flavor without any heat. If you have a good, smoky paprika, you can always use that instead. This guacamole is more smoky/sweet; it's not intended to be spicy.

Also, I threw in the tomato because I had one left in the fridge that needed to be used, but I decided I really don't love tomato in my guacamole.

Happy (not) Cooking!

Two Avocados and a Chicken

Okay, I completely cheated on these two because I didn't actually follow either recipe to the letter. However, I was in the ballpark in each case.

Here goes . . .

Avocado Chicken Salad

One of my favorite foods in the world is chicken salad, but I'm allergic to soy. Anyone in the know understands that means no mayonnaise. Now, a little mayo, once in a while, won't kill me. Heck, it won't even affect me, but more often will give me a rash, and regular use . . . let's just say it isn't pretty. So, when I saw the recommendation that I could replace the mayonnaise in my beloved chicken salad with avocado, I was all over it.

By the time I reached the produce section at WalMart, I was exhausted and my cart was so full, I couldn't fit anything else into it. (For the record, I bought way more than just groceries that night and the produce section was my last stop.) I just wanted to get out of there and go home. Nearly two weeks later, my fridge, freezer, and pantry are still packed full. I may not need to buy groceries until Valentine's Day.

Anyhow, since I doubted I would use green onions in anything else, and I already had a bag of white onions intended for other recipes, I decided to skip those green onions. By the time I got to making the chicken salad, I had decided to skip the onion completely.  Here's what happened:

I poached the chicken in chicken broth (my favorite way to poach chicken--the flavor is amazing). After I let it cool and ran it through the food processor, I mixed it with the mashed avocado and about a tablespoon of lime juice. Then I gave it a quick taste.

That, my friends, was when I decided to abandon the recipe. You see, I'm not a huge fan of onion in my chicken salad, so I decided to just make it the way I love it: some chopped celery, salt, pepper, and chopped garlic. Normally I'd use garlic powder, but I hadn't yet found the garlic powder I packed. (Yeah, I know it seems strange that I brought garlic powder all the way from Boston, but it was crazy cheap, so I bought a big container of it right before I moved because I use so much of the stuff.)

The verdict: I've read that avocado can be used as a substitute in many recipes. Now I'm willing to try it just about anywhere. Oh, and pretty soon, I'll be posting my own recipe for guacamole.

I totally stole this photo from Becoming Betty's blog

Spinach Salad with Chicken, Avocado, and Goat Cheese

In all honesty, the reason I pinned this one was for the vinaigrette recipe, and I was less than impressed. Too much oil. I'm not a fan of oily dressing. Next time I try it, I'll replace a tablespoon of the oil with an extra tablespoon of mustard. When I threw the salad together, I did just that: I simply threw together whatever raw veggies I had in the fridge, plus some poached chicken breast that I cooked when I made the chicken salad and, of course, some avocado.

Still, the combination in the original recipe looks yummy, so it'll find it's way onto my plate at some point.

Happy Cooking!