Guacamole is a wonderful avocado preparation for use with anything from tortilla chips to nachos to salads, etc.

I found the recipe below in an online L.A. Times® group of great Hispanic recipes and it was obvious that this "condiment" or "dip" should be included in Food Nirvana.

Marie used to make fresh Guacamole and we loved it. As I don't have her original recipe I will test the one below and report back to you.

Ingredients:

2 heaping tablespoons of finely chopped white onion

3 serrano chiles, seeded and finely chopped

4 heaping tablespoons of roughly chopped fresh cilantro plus fresh cilantro leaves with little stems for garnish

3/4 teaspoon of sea salt or to taste

3 large avocados or 4 small avocados

4 ounces of ripe tomatoes, finely chopped (about 2/3 cup)

1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions:

Grind together the onions, chiles, chopped cilantro and salt into a paste in a molcajete (Mexican mortar and pestle, or, use a food processor or a blender).

Cut the avocados into halves, remove the pits and spoon the flesh into the molcajete (or into the blender or food processor). Mash the avocado into the onion-chile mixture until it is a uniform texture, but not smooth (it should still have some lumps). You can achieve that effect using a food processor in pulse mode as well, but be careful with using a blender as it will tend to eliminate any lumps, even in pulse mode.

Manually stir in the tomatoes and the lime juice, taste the guacamole and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Put the guacamole into a serving bowl and top it with the fresh cilantro leaves.