Guacamole

I always thought avocado dip is something only very sophisticated people eat but only till I landed in Guatemala. You can find these avocado fruits appear in every single meal for the local people, be it breakfast, snack, lunch or dinner. They eat them with tortillas or nachos and I see school children bringing avocados for snack time when they scoop and eat them out and quickly go out to play. Guacamole was the first dish that my six year old daughter learnt to make at her school after school activity cooking club.

There is a very big avacado tree in our Condomonium at Zona 15. You can find fresh avocados throughout the year. Our security guards are always kind enough to share them with us. They even pack a big bag full of avocados.

We have become latinos in that sense because we eat them everyday, with toast or rotis or chips or make a shake. I even use avocado for vegan cakes to get the rich texture.

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados
1/2 Tomato finely chopped
Lemon and Salt to taste

Method

Scoop the avocados, mash and add the tomatoes, lemon and salt.
If you like pepper, feel free to add paprika, black pepper or chat masala for the tangy effect.

It is good to have them with nachos or as a dip for any chips or toasted bread.

Tip: If you are not serving immediately, after you prepare the guacamole leave the seed of the avocado in the dip and this will prevent retaining the color for quite some time.

Enjoy!!!

Egg-Free Basil Mayonnaise

We have a lush Basil plant growing in our little garden. I always make use of the sprigs to spice up the pasta or use them in the regular mayonnaise which I make at home. Believe me, you will never again buy those store packed, heavily priced Mayonnaise. It is not only tasty but so easy to make in a jiffy. I usually make a very small quantity and store them for a week in the fridge. It does not last longer than that in our house.

Ingredients:
3-4 tbsp of cream cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Basil leaves finely chopped - a few sprigs (If you dont have the fresh ones, you could either skip this or you could use the instant dried basil herb from the store)
Yogurt - 1 tbsp

Method :
Blend in all the above ingredients till smooth and creamy.
Go ahead and dress up you salad with this yummy mayonnaise.

Today I made a tortilla roll with some leftover re fried beans and drizzled a few spoons of this mayonnaise on top. It was so good.


You could enjoy them with burgers, sandwiches and salads. The options are endless.

Enjoy!!!!

Picture Illustrations

Hummus

Hummus

Guatemala has Arabian influence. This city has a lot of Palestine and Arabian restaurants.  I tried  Hummus for the first time at Antigua and fell in love with it ever since.  Being a vegetarian there are few options to dine out where I live and Hummus tops the choice all the time.  I make them quite often at home and also use it as a spread to make a sandwich toast. I toast the part that has the hummus spread and it tastes heavenly and also quite filling.

Ingredients :

• Soak 1 lb of Garbanzo Beans for 5- 6 hrs
• Pressure cook them with water until soft.
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tsp cumin powder
• 2-3 pods of garlic ( optional)

Method:

Blend all the above ingredients in a food processor until smooth and creamy.

Arrange the prepared hummus in a plate and garnish with cilantro and drizzle a bit of olive oil for the effect.

Serve with warm pita bread.

Hummus can also be prepared with Tahini sauce, This one I have prepared without the Tahini.
When you want to prepare with Tahini, add in 2 tbsp of ready-made tahini when you blend all the other ingredients