Guacamole

The best thing that a person can make without doing any cooking is guacamole. By cooking I mean nothing is every heated, just mixed together. This is considered a "raw food" for that very reason. I'm not quite sure where I am on the whole raw food movement, not having had a chance to read much literature on the topic, but I do know that well made guac is delicious and quite healthy. Here's what you need to make it.

4 large avacados diced (I occassionally do more to make extra because it lasts for a while and is great to snack on)
2 Roma Tomatos diced (I like the Roma because it doesn't turn to much when you cut it up)
4 Cloves of garlic minced
4 Jalapenos diced with seeds removed
1 Cup of Cilantro finely chopped (total guesstimation here, I generally use half of what they sell at the grocery store)
2 Limes juiced
1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 1/2 Tbspn ground jalapeno (this is the biggest variable to make it as spicy as you like. If you don't like spice at all, I'd just drop this. If you're a big fan like I am than go wild)
1/2 onion finely chopped (I put this at the end because I don't usually put onion in my guac, but traditionally you would.)

At this point you have everything piled in your bowl. All you really need to do is get something to mix it together. I wouldn't use a food processor because you want your guac a little chunky, not smoothly blended. My go to tool is a potato masher. This does a really effective job of getting the consistency you want and mixing it together. Once the avacado has been mostly turned into green sludge then you may just want to take a spoon and stir everything to more evenly distribute the ingredients, but the mashing does the majority of the work for you.

A couple of tips when preparing the different ingredients.

1. You definitely want to get riper avacado. If you're slicing an avacado for a sandwhich or in a salad you can lean to less ripeness because you want it to hold its shape well. When making guac your life is easier if it mashes easier, so you can get away with the riper avacado. A good rule of thumb is when you are in the store picking out the avacado is to give it a squeeze. If it hardly budges you may want to let it sit out a couple days to ripen or pick a different one. If it is soft underneath the skin then it is ready to go.

2. Score the avacado. Slice the avacado in half and then pick out the pit with that knife. You then want to draw lines in a grid with your knife on the avacado without going through the skin. Then take a spoon and scoop out the rest. It will save you from making a huge mess.

3. Be wary of the jalapeno. You may want to wear gloves when dealing with these guys. The oils that come from the jalapeno will get on your fingers and burn for a couple of days if you don't prevent it from getting there are get rid of it afterwards. They make a metal bar (shaped like soap) to remove garlic smells by drawing out the oils. This works pretty well but doesn't get under your fingernails. If you forget you will go to bed dreaming of your hand being on fire.

The taste is much better than anything you can get in a store because it is fresh. It is healthy because of the natural ingredients and the good fats that the avacado provides. This whole process probably takes under an hour and is well worth it.