You know you always hear somebody say they don’t like or eat certain food or ingredient. I don’t think that I’ve EVER heard anyone say they don’t like avocados. In fact, I’ve never heard anyone try guacamole and say “oh, that’s terrible” I think it’s because avocado is such a perfect fruit that is liked by all, right? That’s why I always make guacamole for parties and it’s usually the first thing to go.

This week with the 4th of July festivities coming up, I thought I’d share my version of guacamole. I remember the first time I tried guacamole I was in heaven. I grew up eating avocados, we had a tree, grandma had a tree, my aunt had a tree, so we ate avocados with everything, we made the Venezuelan traditional sauce guasacaca, and sometimes just ate avocados by itself with a little salt; but we did not make guacamole. I guess there was just not enough Mexican influence in our culture at the time. Well, no worries, after visiting me, my sisters texted me one day asking me how to make guacamole, and since then they have taught my brother and cousins how to make it too and it is, as expected, a hit!

So here is my version of Guacamole, I use flavors and ingredients that I normally have on hand. I know that most people use limes, I happen to buy lemons more often. I also use shallot instead of onion because I like the milder flavor, and I add sweet peppers because I just love them. No tomatoes, no food processor, just a knife and a fork. For anyone that has ever party at our house, this is the guacamole I’ve served you. I hope you try making it this 4th of July, I know that we will. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 avocados
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 small shallot
1 large clove of garlic
3 sweet peppers*
1 jalapeño (seeded)
1/2 cup cilantro (chopped)**
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt to taste.

I usually chop the ingredients as I go, so first thing I do is pour the lemon juice in a big bowl. Chop the shallot, mince the garlic and add them to the lemon juice in the bowl.

I always do this when I am using raw onions so that they sit in the lemon juice while I continue prepping, that helps their flavor get milder.

Finely chop the peppers and cilantro, adding to the bowl. Scoop the avocado into the bowl, add the cumin and olive oil. With a fork, start smashing the avocado and start mixing with the other ingredients in the bowl. Smash until it is as chunky or as creamy as you’d like. Add some salt to taste. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips and party on!

*Sweet peppers are a small version of bell peppers and are easily found at the store, could be substituted by half red bell pepper
**We love cilantro, if you don’t love it as much, add less or simply skip it all together.