Pico de Gallo and Guacomole

Let me say this first: If you are one of those people who do not like cilantro or have it in your genes to hate cilantro, read no further 'coz cilantro is the star of my post today. Well, and the tomato, and the onion, and the jalapeños, and the lime- Yes, Pico de Gallo!

The perfect mixture of some veggies with loads of cilantro. I can top almost anything with this, but the best is some chips!

You have to make this fresh all the time. Well, you can make ahead a couple of hours, but thats the max, after a while it becomes a little runny with the salt softening all the veggies. If you plan to make ahead, I would suggest not to add the salt until you are ready to serve!

Now just in case, if you have made way too much and want to use it up otherwise, the best route is guacamole! But I am sure there won't be any left, but if by any chance your guests don't show up or something happens such that you are left with some pico de gallo at hand, add some avocado and you have guacamole made in a jiffy!

Guacamole 3 ways:

As I just mentioned, you can add avocado to your pico de gallo with some more lime juice and a little salt and you have guacamole ready in no time.

If you have some more time in your hand, go ahead and add a little bit of cumin powder *. Just the other day I was reading some blog saying that its a mistake to add cumin to guacamole. I got one thing to say, may be the blogger never tasted guacamole with cumin!

Want to be brilliant? Add a little bit of grated garlic along with or without cumin. You got guacamole with wonderful flavor now. Be careful not to go overboard with the garlic, it is added raw and too much of it will not taste good **.

For Pico de Gallo:

1 Jalapeño (remove the seeds and vein to control the heat)

1 Roma tomato (Use a form one, not soft and ripe)

1 small  or half of a medium red onion

1 cup of cilantro

Juice of half a lime

Salt to taste

How: Finely dice all the vegetables and mix with lime juice and salt. It's that easy!

For Guacamole:

1 ripe avocado

¾ cup of Pico de Gallo (Add more or less as you like)

*¼ teaspoon of freshly ground cumin powder (optional)

**1 small clove of garlic (optional)

Juice of half a lime

Salt to taste

How:

Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh of the avocado with a spoon. Using the back side of a fork, mash the avocado. This will leave the avocado a little chunky (I like chunky guacamole). Otherwise use the back side of a spoon to mash it to a paste.

Add the lime juice. This will prevent the avocado from turning brown. Don't skimp on the lime juice. My guacamole stayed green for at least 5 hours.

Add Pico de Gallo, garlic, cumin and mix well. Add salt to taste.

To store guacamole, cover it with clear wrap. The clear wrap should touch the guacamole such that there is no air between the guacamole and the wrap. Refrigerate and enjoy later!

If you like cilantro as much as I do, try this Chili-lime-maple-cilantro dressing and Roasted cornish hens with sweet and savory brown rice