Award-Winning Guac

I'm giving myself an award. It's the first Tasty Thursdays Top Recipe award. And I'm giving myself this recipe for guacamole.

See, I would have entered it into the Avocados from Mexico contest that I told you about, except New York residents aren't eligible to enter and, well, I live in New York.

If you live anywhere else, put together your best guac recipe and enter it by January 20.

Now, onto my recipe.

Get together the following ingredients: one lemon [[yes, lemon]], bunch of fresh cilantro, one large tomato, two small onions, two avocados, garlic powder [[yes, garlic powder -- do not substitute this with fresh garlic, it will overpower it]], ground pepper, parmigiano reggiano.

Cube the avocado. It's easier to do it in the skin because then it's not messy. Make sure the cuts are relatively even. This is a chunky guac recipe, so you wanna try to make the pieces uniform. Add the avocado to a serving container.

Chop the onions. Now, a little aside: If you're a glasses wearer, switch to contacts. The contacts block your eyes from the onion mist that makes your eyes water. I can cut onions for days and not shed a tear. Add the onion to wherever you are housing the guac.

Chop the tomato. You want to chop more tomato than onion ... unless you want your guests to have dragon breath. Add the tomato.

Chop the cilantro and add it to the mixture. Stir.

When everything is in a bowl, top it with a layer of garlic powder, a few pinches of pepper, and mix. Shake a bit of parmigiano reggiano on top.

Now, I've got two things to tell you about that. The first is that I'm not crazy about adding salt to whatever I cook. I know you're supposed to season along the way, but I've just always shied away from salt. Not my thing. I use it on four things: baked potatoes, popcorn, corn on the cob, and watermelon. Other than that, my diet doesn't call for adding salt.

Second, I never have queso fresco on hand [[I'm Japanese, Polish and Irish ... queso fresco doesn't come up much]]. So I use parmigiano reggiano and that's a good substitute.

Squeeze half a lemon on top, and you're golden. Well, you're green. Not brown [[which is why you need the lemon; it prevents oxidation]]. And, I much prefer lemon over lime. It brightens it up and gives it a lighter, more citrus feel.

What You'll Need:

• one lemon
• one bunch of fresh cilantro
• one large tomato
• two small onions
• two avocados
• garlic powder
• ground pepper
• parmigiano reggiano

What You'll Do:

• Combine chopped tomato, onions, and avocados. 
• Sprinkle with cilantro, mix. 
• Sprinke with a layer of garlic powder and ground pepper.
• Top with parimigiano reggino and half a lemon.
• Serve.