Primal Palate

Notes

Start with ripe avocados. Do you know how to determining the ripeness of an avocado? Pull the stem off and if the flesh underneath is green (and it feels tender when you squeeze it), it's ripe. To ripen an avocado quickly, put it in a paper bag, fold the bag closed, and leave it on the counter in a warm kitchen. For even faster ripening, add a banana to the bag. Both fruits release ethylene gas, which speeds ripening. To prevent an avocado from ripening too quickly, put it in the fridge. Choose sweet, flavorful tomatoes. This means selecting them at the peak of the season, ideally. And look for locally grown tomatoes, if possible. Those which are shipped from far away are generally picked wayyyy before they are ripe (so that they don't spoil in transit), and may either not be ripe or just be a mealy, flavorless mess by the time they make it to your kitchen. If you're really at a loss for good tomatoes, don't be afraid to use good quality canned chopped tomatoes instead of setting for bad fresh ones. If you are not a fan of cilantro, use curly parsley instead. If you like a lot of spice in your guacamole, leave some of the seeds in the jalapeno. If you don't like spice, make sure you've removed all of the seeds, and you can even reduce the amount of the green flesh of the pepper that you put in the guacamole.