Avocado-Lime Pico De Gallo

It's almost embarrassing that it has been a month since my last post.  I don't know how the time gets away from me!  Actually, I do.  I used to blog at night after my kids went to bed.  Lately I've been walking with my neighbor and my dog most nights around 8:30, and since I'm pregnant and tired, I'm in bed by 10:00.  It's a severe strain on my blogging time, let me tell you!

I know I promised you a bread recipe next (for those of you who DID save your potato water from those garlic mashed potatoes), but I'm going to break that promise for two good reasons.  First, it's been hot around here lately, and I don't know about you but when it's hot outside the last thing I feel like doing is turning on my oven for any reason.  But second, and even more important is that this stuff tastes so freakin' good that I couldn't wait another minute to blog about it.  I ate the first batch I made for lunch today with some tortilla chips - the whole batch!  I didn't even wait for the flavors to blend in the fridge first.  To hide my crime I had to make an additional batch to have with our tacos tomorrow night.  Shame on me, but it tasted oh so good!


Avocado Lime Pico De Gallo

1 can diced tomatoes
3 green onions
40-50 leaves of cilantro (about 6 or 7 sprigs)
1 1/2 jalapeno peppers
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 avocado

Who would have thought that these simple ingredients could bring such pleasure?

Open the tomatoes and dump them into a strainer in the sink.  DO NOT RINSE WITH WATER.  However, you do want to get the extra juiciness out as much as possible, so shake your strainer just a bit.  As you can see, you'll have some tomato-juice-splatters to clean up later.

Next, let's pour those tomatoes gently onto a cutting board.

I like my tomatoes chopped a little smaller than the can of regular diced tomatoes has them.  One solution for this is to use petite diced tomatoes, but I didn't have any on hand today.  So I opted to just chop them a little more once they had drained.

Next, scrape them into a small bowl.  See how they are still juicy around the edges?  This is good!

 Next we'll do the green onions.  Take three and wash them.  Cut off the very end where the roots come out and about 3 inches or so above that.  Discard both ends and keep the middle.

 We want the green onions finely chopped, and since I don't have a food processor that will do it for me, I start by slicing each green onion down the middle.

 Next I take my knife and cut off slices about 1-2 mm thick.  Voila - we have finely chopped green onion to add to the bowl!

 Now let's move on to the cilantro.  Pick off about 40-50 leaves and chop roughly on the cutting board.  You're done!  Add it to the bowl.

 For the jalapeno peppers, you will start by slicing them down the middle and "seeding" them, which is an easy way of saying cut out the middle parts and keep the outside.  If you're a sissy about spicy stuff like I am, you want to make sure you keep the seeds out of the bowl, so once I have seeded them I rinse them with water to get all the random seeds off of the outer part.

 Next, cut each half into skinny slices.  As you can see, my half was cut into about 8 pieces, which is pretty slim!

 And then we're going to chop each bunch of slices into small pieces, just like the onion only slightly bigger.  And we have... finely chopped jalapenos.  Fancy, eh?

 Once you've added the green onion, cilantro, and jalapeno to the bowl you can also toss in your garlic powder, salt, and lime juice.

 Mix well.
Looks pretty, right?
Well, we're not done yet!

 The reason I have added the avocado last is because you don't want to add it right away unless you're serving this the same day.  A plain avocado will turn brown once it's exposed to the air - kind of like a banana - so unless I'm eating this the day I make it, I won't add it in just yet.  However, when you get ready, here's how you chop that avocado without making a mess.

First, cut the avocado in half lengthwise and remove the pit.  Then, using a small knife, cut the avocado flesh into small cubes, being careful not to cut all the way through the skin of the avocado.  What you see should look something like this:

 Next you're going to take a large soup spoon and scrape it along the inside of the avocado peel.  This will scoop that diced avocado right out of the peel and into the bowl...

 ... leaving you with an empty skin.

 Mix in the avocado and you're done! 

Now.  Here's where it get's tricky.  You're supposed to let things like this sit for about 30 minutes or so before you eat them so the flavors will "marry" properly.  If you think you can wait, you go right ahead.  But me?  I usually go ahead and start eating this stuff right away with my tortilla chips.  It's also a great topping to put on your tacos, nachos, or any other Mexican dish.

Fun Fridays: Cheesecake Dip

You are going to either love me or hate me for this recipe, because it is some kinda good! Every month the ladies at church get together for a "Girls Night Out", usually at someone's house. We're all encouraged to bring a snack to share, and last night was our big night for August. I was in a cheesecake mood, but I didn't want the hassle of dealing with plates and forks. Hence, my cheesecake dip was born!

This recipe is for a citrus cheesecake dip, meaning lemons, oranges, or limes. If you prefer you can leave the citrus out and make it a plain cheesecake dip.


Cheesecake Dip

1 pkg. Neufatel cheese (which is the cream cheese with 1/3 less fat)
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon or lime juice
1-2 tsp. zest from either a lemon, orange, or lime (optional, but worth the extra effort!)
1 1/4 c. light cool whip

With a mixer,
beat cream cheese and sugar together in a medium bowl. Add lemon or lime juice and lemon/orange/lime zest and mix for an additional minute to make sure the sugar is completely dissolved.

With a spoon,
stir in the cream cheese. Serve with graham cracker squares (honey, not cinnamon) and try not to overdose!

To get the "zest" from a piece of fruit:
This is not as hard as I used to think it was. Most of us have one of those square cheese graters sitting around. If you're like me, you only use one side of the thing and wonder in the world those other sides are used for. One day I was at the dentist and they had the food channel on (go figure!) and I saw the chef use one of those other sides to get the zest from a lemon. Ahh... so that's how you do it! I didn't have a lemon on hand, so I used an orange for the dip (pictured here). Wash the fruit, and then rub in a circular pattern it on the side of the grater that looks like it would cause the most damage.

Once you've gotten most of the colored part of the peel off, you're just about done. All you need to do now is brush as much of the zest off the grater as you can so you can use it, too. Add it to whatever you're cooking, and you'll be surprised at the flavor it adds!