There are very few things that ever make me think of moving from Upstate NY. We both grew up here, and despite the rough winter we’re having this year, we enjoy all of the seasons in their turn.
But then there are avocados. If you are trying to grow or raise as much of your own food as you can, avocados can be a bit of a brick wall when you live where we do. Along with citrus, shrimp and Shiraz, it’s never going to happen here – we live far from the ocean and our climate is never going to support lemon trees, Shiraz grapes … or avocados.
I can’t bear to give up any of those things though, so I just have to hope that our other habits make up for eating a few things that could never come from our part of the country. The availability of avocados is pretty amazing, considering that as recently as maybe 10 years ago, they were hard to find for most of the year, and incredibly expensive when you did find them. This is one trend that I applaud loudly, because nothing cheers you up on a cold wintry day like a big salad with avocados in it – or a big bowl of this Spicy Avocado Dip.
We eat an obscene amount of guacamole, but sometimes we like a bit of a change. Creamier and a little richer than guacamole, this dip is fantastic with all kinds of chips and we also love it with quesadillas and tacos or fajitas.
- 2 ripe avocados
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup homemade or jarred salsa [this Green Tomato Jalapeno Salsa is our favorite]
- 1 garlic clove
- Juice of ½ lime
- ½ – 3 teaspoons green jalapeno hot sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Fresh cilantro
- Cut the avocados in half and scoop flesh into a bowl.
- Mash coarsely with a fork or potato masher.
- To the mashed avocado, add the sour cream and salsa.
- Chop the garlic clove very finely, or use a microplane to mince it right into the bowl.
- Add the lime juice, the hot sauce [use the smaller amount of hot sauce and taste before adding more], and the salt.
- Chop the cilantro leaves fairly finely and mix in. Enough to suit your own taste - I used a couple tablespoons.
- Blend everything together with a wooden spoon, taking care to leave a bit of the chunky texture.
- Chill for a hour or so to blend the flavors, stir and taste.
- Add more salt or hot sauce as needed.
- Serve right away - to store, press plastic wrap right on the surface of the dip and use within 24 hours for best flavor.
You don’t even care about the weather with a big bowl of this to snack on! Now if someone would just breed an avocado tree that grows in NY!
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