Ingredients:

• Can of Chick Peas
• Tahini
• Garlic
• Lemon juice and zest
• Olive Oil
• Paprika
• Parsley
• Salt & Pepper

When shopping for the ingredients, findng the tahini was the difficult part. I couldn’t find it at Safeway, but was able to find it at a local produce store. Opening up was quite weird though, it was very pasty and was separated from the liquid or oil. It was very pasty and hard to scoop out the correct amount. This recipe also reminded me that the Magic Bullet sucks, and is not a replacement for a blender or food processor. It’s all I have though, so I had to make do.

So start off by draining and rinsing the chick peas. Cut the garlic, and zest the lemon. Now you basically just put the chick peas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, lemon zest, and olive oil in a food processor and blend it until it’s combined and a good consistency. If it’s too dry, add more olive oil or water. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving add paprika and parsley and a bit more olive oil. Serve with toasted pitas! That’s it – simple right?

With the Magic Bullet not so much. At first I thought I’d put half of the ingredients in because I know the Magic Bullet isn’t the best if there isnt enough liquid, and lots of stuff gets stuck on top. But then I saw how much more room there was, so I put everything in. Bad mistake, it only blended what was close to the blade. I  shook it around, and smacked it a couple times, and could hear a few more chick peas get blended. Not a good process. I had to open it and scoop and mix it probably 5 times before I decided to use a potato masher. I then put it back into the Magic Bullet to blend it some more. I probably did this twice. In the end, I probably worked on the blending for 20 minutes – something that would probably take less than 5 minutes in a conventional food processor. I still had chunks of chick peas here and there.

One first taste with the amount of oil he recommended, it was way too thick. I added  alot more, and also quite a bit of salt and pepper so it wasn’t so bland. The paprika helped a lot too. I messed one tme though because I think I got a lemon seed or two in there and that added some bitterness on one of my first tastes. I put it in the fridge to chill, and added a bit more oil to fix the texture. When I tried it again with the pita bread it was delicious. My family loved it too. I think next time I’ll try flavouring it a bit more with other ingredients that he suggests in his Freestyle Variations. I’d gladly make this again, if I had a food processor!

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Level: Easy

I made this when we were making fajitas along with the MePlusFood Salsa. I never made guacamole from scratch, so I went on a searched for the recipe on the Food Network website. I decided on Tyler Florence’s Chunky Guacamole. After having such a success at making Tyler’s Chicken with Orange, I knew I can trust his recipe.

This recipe is really easy, but the prep time could take a while. There is a lot of cutting. I first started with dicing the onions and serrano chilies, then I started chopping the cilantro, and mincing the garlic. I purposely left the avocado last because I was afraid of it browning while I chop the rest of the ingredients. I also squeezed the lime juice on top of the avocado as soon as I scooped the flesh out, which I think it helped stop browning the avocado.

You are basically done after you chopped and cut everything, because the only step left is to just mix everything together, and add on salt and pepper to taste. Mash the avocado with a fork, but not too much, you want it to be chunky.

This guacamole was magical. It was fresh, it was creamy and it was REALLY GOOD! We ate it with our fajitas and chips, and it got high praises from everyone.

Make this for your friends at your next party. I’m going to make it again soon!

Note: Adjust the amount of any of the ingredients to your taste. One of my friend cannot eat spicy food, so I used 1 serrano chili instead of 2 listed in the recipe. I also didn’t add the olive oil, because I forgot about it. It still tasted really good.

Tyler Florence
Chunky Guacamole
Recipe as written by Tyler Florence on foodnetwork website:

Cooking time: 15 minutes

4 ripe avocados
3 limes, juiced
1/2 Red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 serrano chilies
1 big handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and Freshly ground pepper

Halve and pit the avocados. Scoop out the flesh with a tablespoon into a mixing bowl. Mash the avocados with a fork, leaving them somewhat chunky. Add the remaining ingredients, and fold everything together to gently mix. Lay a piece of plastic wrap right on the surface of the guacamole so it doesn’t brown and refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

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Level: Super Easy

We made this salsa on the fly while we were cooking ourselves some Fajitas (recipe coming soon). I was pretty proud of this salsa because it was SO TASTY. I will never buy pre-made salsa ever again. Here’s how to make it:

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

3 vine ripened tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion
2 jalapeño peppers, very finely diced
3 green onions
3 limes, juiced
2 gloves of garlic, minced
1 big handful of cilantro
kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

Dice tomatoes, and onion. Finely chop jalapeños, green onions, and cilantro. In a mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients, and mix everything together. Add kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Once all the ingredients are mixed, put a plastic wrap over the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30mins.

Boom! That’s it! Eat it with tortilla chips, tacos, fajitas, nachos, etc. Freshest salsa you’ll ever taste, guaranteed.

Tip: Squeeze out some of the tomato juice in the bowl before you start dicing it. It will give some liquid to the salsa and help all the flavors bind together.

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