Guacamole! But did you know that in the U.S., we eat over 2 billion pounds of avocados each year? (Google it.) Being over 7 pounds per person is that. I'm guessing that most of those avocados go into what has become America's favorite dip: guacamole.

Guacamole: A Classic Mexican Dish

Avocados were bred in Mexico for thousands of years before the word "guacamole" and the dip were born there. The name is a combination of two Nahuatl words of Aztec in the form of ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce.)

Easy Guacamole Ingredients

Ripe avocados and salt, with that being all you really need. A little bit of lime or lemon juice, a splat of acidity, will help counter the richness of the avocado after that. To further season this, add chopped cilantro, chili, onion, … and/or tomato.

Perfectly Ripe Avocados: How To Pick

Avocados that are not too ripe, not too sour, but just right, are the trick to making the perfect guacamole. If the avocados aren't ripe enough, as they will be hard and tasteless. If too ripe, the taste will be off.

To check if your avocado is ripe, gently press the outside of the fruit. If there is no give the avocado hasn't ripened. The avocado is ripe if there's a little give. If the avocado is too ripe, there is a lot of give. Use after taste testing first.

How To Cut an Avocado

To slice open an avocado, cut it in half lengthwise with a sharp chef's knife, twist apart. One side will have the pit. If you want to pull it out, you can tap a chef's knife on the pit, and twist to extract it (with a towel over your hand), or cut the avocado in half and scoop it out using your fingers or a spoon.

Other Ways To Use Guacamole

The job of guacamole in the kitchen is bigger than a party dip. Served scooped on top of nachos, it's great or as a side or topping to enchiladas, tacos, grilled salmon, or even oven baked chicken. And guacamole is good in food too. Mix some in with a tuna sandwich, your next deviled egg batch, or anything else you want!

Storing Guacamole So It Stays Green

For the best guacamole, eat it as soon as you've made it. Cut avocados, like apples, start to oxidize and become brown. While the lime juice you add (to guacamole, for example) actually contains acid that can slow down the process more than a little. If you are making the guacamole just for you, you can make it a few hours ahead and store it properly, but if you are making for a party this is great.

To keep guacamole green, our trick is to avoid letting air touch our guacamole! Place into a container, seal with plastic wrap and press down on the plastic wrap to force out any air pockets. Make sure there's not any exposed surface of the guacamole on the plastic wrap, but touching the plastic wrap itself. This will reduce to a minimum the amount of browning.

This can be stored in the fridge for up to three days. Scrape off the brown parts, or stir the remainder in with the guacamole as it sits before serving.

Guacamole Variations

You can feel free to add strawberries, peaches, pineapple, mangoes and even watermelon when you've got guacamole basics down. For instance, one Diana Kennedy favorite Mexican classic guacamole has pomegranate seeds and chunks of peaches in it. That's when you can get creative with your homemade guacamole!

Simple Guacamole:

Salted mashed avocados are the simplest version of guacamole. Don't allow other ingredients to prevent the making of guacamole.

Quick guacamole:

To make the easiest guacamole ever, take a 1/4 cup of salsa and mix it in with your mashed avocados.

Don't have enough avocados?

Add sour cream, mayonnaise or cottage cheese if you need to stretch limited supply of avocados. So what, purists may be horrified? It still tastes great.