You’ve probably heard the sad story already but if you haven’t, brace yourself: We’re in the middle of a major lime shortage and today is Cinco de Mayo.
Holy guacamole!
Or, perhaps, not so holy because I’m going to share with you my rather irreverent workaround in event of a long, limeless summer. That’s right, I use lemons instead of limes in avocado recipes and, furthermore, I’ve been known to do this even when there’s plenty of limes.
Sacre bleu!*
Look, I realize limes and lemons are different fruits with different flavor characteristics but who wants to go guac-less when you can go guac-tastic? Not this chip dipper! And, yup, even when I have a citrus choice, I frequently use both–spritzing the cut avocado with lemon (to keep browning at bay), then adding lime to the blended mixture as needed. This year, though, when I saw some sad green specimens (and the prices!), I decided just to skip the limes and double up on the lemon. Here’s the result:
EZ Lemon Avocado Dip
Serves one as a fresh & tasty snack
One ripe avocado
1/2 lemon
Dash of cumin
Dash of cayenne pepper
Sliced green onions or chives if you have ’em
Sea salt to taste
Slice avocado in half and remove seed. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice on both halves. Peel skin, cut avocado into small pieces and place in bowl. Add cumin, cayenne, salt and more lemon to taste. Blend well with spoon. Adjust seasonings as needed. Great with pita chips (just in case there’s a tortilla chip shortage, too!)
Update: I tried this also with paprika instead of cayenne–yum! Go slow with the pepper–just a teensy bit then add more if needed. Same with lemon. I like mine really citrusy but tastes differ. Enjoy!
Further reading:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/118001/Cinco-de-Mayo
*Cinco de Mayo commemorates a Mexican victory over the French. I don’t speak Spanish–just enough French to be dangerous.
Copyright 2014, Lori Fontanes
What the Ducks! 