Janie... from Scratch: Guacamole

For the first 23 years of my life, I was convinced I HATED guacamole. One day I had some at Chipotle and after that I was hooked. And avocados have the good kind of fat, so you can feel less guilty about eating it. Honestly, I don't even eat it with chips anymore, just with a spoon!

Let me show you how easy it is to make this healthy and fresh snack!

Guacamole
3 ripe avocados
1/4-1/2 cup onion, minced (red or white onions are fine)
1-2 cloves minced garlic

juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
salt to taste

When you're looking for avocados at the store, and you want to use them right away, make sure that they aren't rock hard. You want an avocado that has a slight give to it when you push on it gently.

First start by cutting up the onion. When you use onion raw, it's always a good idea to rinse the chopped onion under water to wash off some of the strong onion taste, and to rinse off its natural defenses that make you cry. The day I made this I had a red onion, but use whatever you have on hand.

After the onion, cut up the jalapeno and garlic. For the jalapeno, cut off the top, slice in half and then take out the ribs and seeds, so it's not as spicy. Next, cut the halves into long matchsticks, and cut the matchsticks into small pieces.

For the avocados, first take your knife and slice the avocado in half lengthwise, rotating the avocado around the knife so you avoid the seed in the middle. Twist and pull the avocado apart.

Next, take your knife, and firmly hack it into the seed.

Twist the avocado again, and the seed will loosen up. Remove the seed, still on the knife, and discard.

Next, take a spoon and scoop out each side of the avocado. Be careful for the nub at the top, sometimes it falls out with the flesh of the avocado. If you need a little extra help getting the flesh out, take a small knife and get the flesh into chunks while it's still in the skin. This will help with the mashing too.

I always use a potato masher to mix everything together. It makes a really nice consistency that's not too chunky or too smooth. Make sure to add the lime juice before mashing.