Grilled Guacamole

One of my favorite dishes during a carnivorous weekend in Las Vegas was Grilled Guacamole. I’ve noticed lately people seem to have an aversion to cooking avocados; twice recently I’ve been queried about dishes that included cooked avocado. Cooked avocado is definitely not as pretty as raw—but the same is true of bananas. And like bananas, avocados are well-suited to heat. (Here’s another recent recipe where I put avocado under fire: Mexican Pizza — the third recipe down on the page).

There’s no great trick to grilling avocado, or the thin slices of red onion you’ll also need for the guacamole. I do have a couple of pointers, though.

Cut the avocado in half, and remove the pit. To scoop the flesh out of the skin, run a spoon under the meat of the fruit, then gently lift it away from the skin. Cut each half in half again, and brush the quarters lightly with olive oil. Cut the red onion in the direction pictured above.

To keep the grill time about the same as the avocado, cut very thin 1/4-inch slices, leaving the stem of the onion intact—that’s what holds the layers in each slice of the onion together as it grills. Brush the slices on both sides with olive oil.

The jalapeno is very straight forward: cut it in half lengthwise and remove the stem and seeds.

Grill the onion, avocado, and jalapeno until they are well marked. Each avocado slice has three sides, and you’ll likely grill it about 2 minutes per side, for a total of 6 minutes. The onion and jalapeno will both take about 3 minutes per side, which means that (conveniently) everything will be ready at once.

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Grilled Guacamole

This is a great dish to make and serve just before you put your main course on the grill.

(adapted from Chris Lilly and Kingsford Charcoal)

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 ripe avocados, peeled and quartered

1/2 red onion, cut in 1/4-inch thick slices

1 jalapeno pepper, halved with seeds and ribs removed

3 plum tomatoes

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 clove very finely minced garlic

2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt (more to taste)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Heat the grill for direct grilling.
2. Brush the avocado, onion, and jalapeno with the oil on all sides and place on the grill. After two minutes, turn the avocado. At 3 minutes turn the onion and jalapeno; at 4 minutes turn the avocado and at 6 minutes remove take the avocado onion and jalapeno, which should all be nicely marked, off the grill. Transfer to a plate to let cool slightly.
3. Dice the avocado, onion and tomato into 1/3-inch pieces; mince the jalapeno. Gently toss the vegetables with the lime juice, garlic, cilantro, salt, cumin and cayenne. Taste and adjust salt and cayenne if desired.

Makes about 2 cups

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