Bento Box Guacamole

After making those delicious Bacon and Egg tacos a few days ago, I was craving one crucial classic Mexican ingredient not present in that recipe. I'm referring, perhaps unsurprisingly, to the avocado, that fantastic fruit to which so many of the posts on this blog pay tribute. The very best part of working with avocado in the kitchen lies in its convenience, something I'll be demonstrating in today's blog post.

The most authentic or traditional guacamole is made with a molcajete, or mortar and pestle, but in this case all you'll need is a small, Bento-style container (or any small container, really). If you're worried that the container's too small and you'll need more room to work with, worry not--this recipe is quick, easy, and requires very little room to work with. Whether your kitchen's the size of a breadbox or a box seat at a stadium, you'll find you don't need a lot of counter surface or container space to make this guacamole.

Before I continue, it'd be less than forthcoming of me if I didn't admit that I usually prefer avocado salsa to guacamole. To me, the former is much more texturally rich, and offers clearer flavors: you can immediately taste the cilantro, avocado, lime, etc., whereas guacamole takes on a more unified flavor. That's not to say guacamole's not great, though--if avocado's your main ingredient, you're good in my book. Unless you're, you know, a sentient, avocado-based monster, or something. Then I'm probably not your biggest fan. Hate to break it to you.

Okay, let's see if we can make this guacamole in less than ten minutes.



First, empty one and a half avocados into your container.



Shake black pepper and ground cumin over the avocados to taste. This whole recipe is to taste, actually. For the black pepper, use just a little bit more than you would think necessary. For the cumin, a couple brief shakes will be plenty.



Chop a handful of cilantro (unless you're a cilantro-hater), mince one small clove of garlic, and empty both from your cutting board to the container. Squeeze a single lime over everything in the container.



Take a fork, and get mashing! After a minute or two of good mashing, you'll have great, quick, easy guacamole, with lots of bold and complimentary flavors.

You know, I feel like we're well under the ten minute mark still, so let's make this a Bento Box guacamole trio. The first--and only--time I've ever had a variation on traditional guacamole was at Mezcal in Worcester, MA. The varieties I show you how to make below are just simpler versions of the ones we had there, so you can consider this post an honorary edition of the Home Plate series of posts if you like.



Okay, first you're going to need to divvy your guac up into three separate parts. Then, chop about a quarter of a mango--



--and purchase a bag of Corn Nuts. These are the two crucial ingredients for these guac variations. Roasted, salted cashews and almonds (preferably smoked) can be included, too, if you have them handy.







So, one guacamole will be plain, one will have mango and cashews, one will have Corn Nuts and almonds. Mezcal's guacamole variations are aptly called Tropical and Crunchy on their menu, and they boast a few more ingredients each, but I think these additional ingredients will add plenty of extra flavor as it is. Grab some chips, and enjoy!



Thanks for stopping by Beach City Cooking! Have a great night, and stay cool!