Recipes: Guacamole and Salsa

Salsa and guacamole are two delicious and versatile Mexican sauces.  Great with tacos, quesadillas, chips - or just on a spoon! I love serving the salsa over some grilled meat or fish too.

Salsa - It really just means sauce in Spanish.  My salsa is similar to pico de gallo or salsa mexicana, which is fresh and uncooked.  I use a combination of chillies for fresh, pickled, and smokey heat.  It hits you at different times and in different ways - like a jab, followed by a left hook! Ka-POW!  But as always, adjust the chili combinations to the heat level you prefer.

Makes about 2 cups

-3 medium ripe tomatoes, diced with juice and seeds.  I prefer Roma tomatoes, but if you`re using regular field or beefeater tomatoes, use 2 instead of 3.
-Juice of 1 lime
-¼ cup of red onion, diced
-¼ cup of cilantro, chopped
-1 tbsp of olive oil
-1 tsp of cumin
-½ fresh jalapeño, finely chopped with seeds
-1.5 tbsp picked jalapeno, finely chopped with seeds
-½ tsp of chipotle sauce
-½ tsp salt
-¼ tsp pepper to taste

• In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients.
• Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
• Let it sit covered for about 20 min to extract the juices and for the flavours to blend together.

Guacamole - just FYI, it should be pronounced as gwa-ca-molay, with the initial `g` very soft.  Not that you had your Spanish lesson for the day, my two biggest pet peeves when it come to guacamole is garlic and when the avocados are over-mashed and slimy.  That`s just gross.  Here, chunky = yummy!

Makes about 2 cups

-2 ripe avocados

-1 stalks of green onion, thinly sliced

-2 tbsp of cilantro

-¼ c diced onion (I use red onions, but it doesn’t matter)

-½ teaspoon of cumin

-Juice of one lime

-1 ½ tbsp of olive oil

-1/2 tsp of salt

-¼ tsp of pepper

• Halve the avocado and scoop the meat out with a large spoon.
• Mash avocado coarsely with spoon and add remaining ingredients.  Stir to combine.
• Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
• Tip: If you don’t plan on eating it immediately, squeeze some more lime juice on top and seal in an air tight container. Oxidation turns it brown – ugly but still edible!