Here’s a fun fact: Erik and I used to hate avocados.
As a kid, I would not touch them. I’d scrape them out of my California rolls and I’d scoop only the salsa layer out of 7-layer dip, shunning the sour cream and guac. Guacamole was nothing less than a bowl full of the worst things on earth.
The tipping point came during my junior summer in college when I interned in Silicon Valley. My boss love this one Mexican restaurant that we occasionally went to for lunch. He always ordered the guacamole: an incredibly generous, gargantuam bowl of green with chips sticking up in it:
When he first proffered the bowl, I was all, “no thanks, not a fan of avocado.” Some time later, I must have gotten bored with my burrito because I remember fixating on the chip medallions buried in the green goo. Desperate with curiosity, I finally picked one up and ate it. One giant explosion of tangy lime, salt and creamy texture later, and I became a hand-to-heart guac addict.
Now Erik and I live happily ever after in a world where sometimes we eat mostly guac for dinner. Guac, chips, sweet potato fries. We’d be pretty happy living on that for quite a few days. Maybe toss in some salsa (for him) and steamed broccoli (for me).
So do you remember that best b of mine who was responsible for my favorite cakey pancakes? Shelby makes the best food. Every time she comes back from California, we end up cooking or baking together which is great because a) I obviously don’t do enough of either and b) she makes dishes of insane greatness. She makes no-fat banana blueberry muffins, healthy pumpkin muffins and insanely tasty chocolate chip cherry cookies that I could eat by the truckload.
Fun facts about Shelby:
- She is a crazy huge fan of cilantro, black beans, garlic and onions. All things I used to eschew (minus black beans).
- She eats baby carrots by the bag and eats whole cucumbers raw, voraciously.
- She has 89 boyfriends because she is a hot commodity and just can’t choose. Boys love her.
Clearly we are cut out to be buds, amirite?
We made this guac for water polo reunion brunch and I wanted to hide it in my fridge and not let anyone else eat it. My usual go-to guac is simply lime and salt; Shelby’s version is lush with an abundance of goodness: nibs of juicy corn, corners of feisty peppers, strands of fresh cilantro, and strong and tangy with garlic and lime. I now make this every chance I get and you should too!
Shelby’s Loaded Guacamole
Ingredients
- 1 large ripe avocado
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- 1 small roma tomato chopped
- ½ cup corn
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped fine
- 4 green onions sliced
- 1 small jalapeno chopped (and de-seeded if you are faint of heart, like me)
- 1 large lime
- salt pepper, cumin to taste
- dash of siracha or pinch of red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Smash the avocado with a fork and add tomato, corn, cilantro, green onions, and jalapeno while garlic is toasting.* Squeeze in the juice from the lime. Add salt, pepper, cumin and siracha to taste (I add a dash of each).
- *I like to toast the minced garlic in a non-greased frying pan for a few minutes just to take the raw edge off. When it’s fragrant and reaches a toasty golden color, turn off the heat and let cool before adding to the rest of the ingredients.
Hiii! So….I’ve decided to spend the rest of my afternoon catching up on as many of your blog posts as I can. I actually spent the past 5 minutes deciding if I wanted to start with your newest posts or your oldest, so I scrolled past page after page and here I am WOW I can’t believe I’ve been pretty much out of touch with the blogging world since APRIL. If I ever do this again, please knock me in the head with a frying pan (actually but not really) haha I’m going to apologize in advance for the comment spam you will probably get in the next hour or so from me xoxoxo
p.s. can’t believe you used to hate avocados! although it’s not uncommon I’m glad you totally got over that because this guacamole looks rad, i’m going to have to try putting corn in next time!!
Dear Lianna,
I love you. This is possibly the best comment I’ve ever received on my blog. You are amazing!!! Thank you for reading (and commenting!) on like 10 billion of my posts.
Lastly, I MISS YOU COME BACK TO THE BLOGGING WORLD!
Was the same as a kid – hated all things green. And most healthy veggies are green aren’t they? Couldn’t imagine eat something so growsy 😀 But interesting how the things change when we grow up – so typicaly love the things we just ‘hate’ to eat … so never say never 😉
I am so saving that recipe for worm summer evenings – to enjoy it with freshly prepared margaritas <3 Thanks for sharing! Love the photos – as always 😉
I love avocados and I absolutely adore corn! This guacamole recipe looks downright amazing and loaded with flavor 🙂
I would love to just eat guac all day and be the happiest person in the world. Lime and cilantro make it a billion times better!
Amen, girl 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Yum, yum, yum…I LOVE guacamole. And this recipe looks so good! I also love the way that you photographed the ingredients…looks great! Wonderful post, Erika 🙂
Aww thanks so much Carla!! You’re the best 🙂
It makes me think of that saying don’t knock it until you try it. Looks great.
Thanks Bam–so true!
You know, I used to hate cilantro (now love it) and used to hate parsley (have been craving parsley lately. how weird is that?). It’s funny how our taste buds evolve. My husband makes killer guacamole and just loves the stuff. His birthday is coming up and I’ve been planning a secret taco fiesta in which he gets to be the judge of a guac off. I may just have to enter this one in the running!
Can you please share your parsley cravings?? I started eating it more after doing the Whole Living detox, but it’s still a bit of a struggle…it’s just such a harsh and scratchy herb, texturally! At least the parsley that I’ve been buying is not that tender. Anyway, that is awesome that you crave it!
A secret taco fiesta sounds SO FUN!! What a creative idea. I hope you guys had an awesome time–I’d love to know what the winning guac recipe was! 🙂
Oh, I am so with Brandi on this one … Avocados = Love. And I too had a period there where — dare I say it? — I didn’t like avocados (gasp!), but so glad they changed my tune! Love this guacamole recipe, Erika, and siracha and fresh cilantro? Gifts from the gods. Thanks so much for sharing, girl, and the pics? Gorgeous! xo!
Haha isn’t that funny? That seems to be a theme among this comment thread. Wonder if avocados are kind of an acquired taste like coffee or something? Ha. Thanks so much for the kind words lady 🙂
I love avocados!! I eat one daily…usually by itself or on top of red beans and rice or some quinoa. So delicious. I am seriously addicted to them. My hubby eats like 3 a day! I even ate an avocado grilled sandwich last week (instead of cheese). This guacamole looks soo delicious!!! I also didn’t start eating them until I was in my 20’s. Didn’t like them before..weird how we change.
Yum! I’m going to have to scope out your site for some red beans + rice recipes…have you posted any? I need a good recipe! And an avocado grilled sandwich sounds AMAZING!!
Good thing you came around – avocados are some of the yummiest foods in the world! I admit – I was the same. I was wary of them a few years ago too. But then I started eating and adoring California rolls and it just went on from there. Now, sometimes I’ll cut an avocado in half, drizzle it with a bit of olive oil and salt, and just go to town. This guacamole is serious business – I love all the add-ins, especially the corn and cilantro. I’m making nachos this weekend. If I’m able to get my shiznit together, I’ll try and make Shelby’s guac.
Whoa-hoo, serious avocado lover in the house! I’m intrigued by this just olive oil + salt business. Not sure if I’m quite at that stage yet butttt…let me know if you try/like the guac!! 🙂
I never knew that my husband, while we were dating, never tried guacamole because he thought he wouldn’t like it – and he eats everything! Thank god that changed. Now he could eat it every day. We even planted an avocado tree so we can eat it more often! haha Thanks for this recipe. I love corn & never thought to add it! I’m excited to try it!! Thanks!
Lol! That is hilarious–an avocado tree? I should try that! They are so darn expensive. What kind of climate do they need to grow in?? Would Houston, TX be a good climate?
Glad you’re thinking about trying out the corn…it’s my fav addition 🙂
Mmmmm! Avocados.. Lovely blog! Everything looks sooo delicious
Thanks so much Sarah!
Guac is my favorite! I like the added corn in the mix.
Michael still doesn’t like avocados but I was never a fan until…well…I tried guacamole lol. Yours look fab!
Haha guac is just the best! Thanks! 🙂
I used to think I didn’t like guac also but oh how wrong I was! Love your fully loaded version!
Thanks Joanne!
ha ha I totally know what you mean about being completely happy eating quacamole for dinner…my boyfriend and I get avocados all the time and eat them with salt, chili powder and lime typically….then if we have chips we will be less lazy and make some quac 🙂 SO delicious! We would eat them every day if we could! Luckily, avocados are healthy 🙂 Your friend sounds awesome!! Thanks for sharing!
Oh she is, she is 🙂 Sounds like we should all hang out and have a guac party no?!
I totally agree that guacamole and chips can be a meal!! I love the presentation with the chips standing up- such a cute idea 🙂
So genius right? Just begging for you to dive right in! 🙂
I’m glad you started liking avocados otherwise you were missing out 😛
This guac looks so yum!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Well, thank goodness you came around and started liking avocados!
I lovelovelove avocados (and actually ate one plain and whole in Spain a couple years ago… fresh produce was a rare and beautiful treat) but my boyfriend hates them. So… there’s hope in the future?!?! That we can happily eat guacamole together?? [PS: Yum.]
WOW. I don’t think I could eat one plain and whole, but go you!! You healthy fresh food eater, you. Ah no!!! You will just have to make your bf some irresistible guac and convert him then, won’t you? 🙂
This looks amazing!