You may recall, few months back, I wrote about the surprise tomatoes that seemingly popped up out of nowhere in my backyard.
Thanks to that nifty little gift from the house, the whole summer I enjoyed fresh, vine ripened tomatoes. I made pasta sauce, salsa, roasted, boiled and froze them. The tomatoes even inspired me to start my herb garden, which then prompted me to try growing peppers, chilies and onions. It really was an amazing experience, and made for quite a lot of fun and amazing food.
Anyway....
After summer came to an end, autumn never really existed, and we found ourselves suddenly in 60 degree weather (the SoCal equivalent of winter), I decided I needed a little break from gardening. My herbs were doing well, but that's about it. I just let everything else die or go dormant until the earth decided to warm up again.
A few weeks back, Nick and I were wandering the perimeter of the house, discussing the hanging of Christmas lights, lamenting about how we've let the side yard get a little out of hand (again), and staring at this ugly tree that grows near the garage that we've been meaning to cut down since we first moved in.
It's a strange tree. It doesn't provide much shade because it's so tall and lean, but the leaves are large and make a huge mess on the ground when they fall. We've never watered it intentionally once, and yet it continues to grow. When we first moved in, the top of the tree barely reached the roof - but now it's towering another 5 feet overhead and has engulfed the cable lines running across our rooftop ( I can only imagine the havoc it's wreaking upon the plumbing with its root system). So as we walked around, considering the tree from all angles, we discussed the best way to remove it.
Until I actually looked up into the tree....and noticed the weird things growing in it.
Now after the tomato incident, I couldn't possibly imagine that our home had any more surprises left in store. But from ground-level, I couldn't tell what was in the tree, so I asked Nick to hop up on the roof, cut one off and toss it down to me to inspect.
I'm not exactly an expert on random fruit trees that spring up in yards, but this seemed to me to look like an avocado.
So I cut it open just to be sure.
Sure enough...butt-ugly side yard tree is an avocado tree.
I truly had no words.
Not being a huge avocado fan, I would not have intentionally set out to plant an avocado tree. However, since the house has decided to bestow upon us the grace and tastiness of yet another food gift, it would be rude to cast it aside. So for now, I decided that the only thing I can do with avocado is the only thing I apparently know how to make: guacamole. So in honor of the one avocado tree that is mysteriously growing along side our house, here is One Tree Guacamole (to help you remember that you only need one of every ingredient as a base, and then can multiply as more is needed).
Now...if I can only find a gummy bear tree on my property, I'd be set for life.......
One Tree Guacamole-
Ingredients:
1 - avocado
1 - lime
1 - tsp salt
1 - small tomato (de-seeded and chopped)
1 - shallot (minced)
1 - garlic clove (minced)
1 - tbsp chopped cilantro (julienned)
1 - tsp pepper
Directions:
In a bowl, mash the avocado and mix with the juice of the lime and salt. *just cut the lime into fourths and squeeze over a small sieve directly into the bowl.
Mix in the remaining ingredients - tomato, shallot, garlic, cilantro and pepper. Stir.
Refrigerate and serve.
A few tips:
If you are not a huge salt person, add just a pinch at the start and then more at the end depending on your taste.
If you'd like to add a little spice, toss in just some red pepper. Want smoky and spicy? Add cumin. Want smoky but not spicy, toss in some paprika. But season conservatively before you chill the guac - the flavors will develop more the longer it sits. Remember...you can always add more seasoning, but you can't take it out once it's in there.
I left mine a little chunky, but feel free to smash or puree as much as you'd like to the consistency you desire.
*Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com. You can find the original HERE!
