Avocado Crema

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When we are having friends over, we like to create a menu that allows our guests to pick and choose what they want to eat. Recently, we had our friends Kaitlyn and Aaron over for arepas. We had arepas, served with our Beer Braised Shredded Chicken and lots of toppings including black beans, grilled corn, and shredded coleslaw cabbage. One of our favorite condiments for a dinner like this is this recipe for Avocado Crema. The yogurt in the crema is a nice tangy addition to the heartier dishes like braised chicken and stewed black beans. It’s a great condiment for tacos, arepas, quesadillas, or any other of your Mexican favorites.

Avocado Crema

  • Servings: 4 servings
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The perfect, quick and easy, taco topping.

Ingredients

  • 1 avocado
  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup low fat Greek yogurt
  • juice from 1 lime
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Use a fork or potato masher to mash the avocado in a small mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients (yogurt – cumin) and mash really well, until the avocado crema is smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Soft Scrambled Breakfast Quesadillas with Avocado Crema

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Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! We know this year isn’t the margarita bar crawl that we thought it would be, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do a little to celebrate and have some fun in quarantine. We love a good breakfast situation and thought that breakfast quesadillas are a great, low key way to celebrate this year. We have given our favorite breakfast ingredients the essential Mexican twist for a special celebratory morning. Insert a paloma or tequila sunrise and you’ll have yourself one heck of a quarantined Cinco de Mayo morning.

Soft Scrambled Breakfast Quesadillas with Avocado Crema

Makes: 2 large quesadillas; 2- 4 servings

Prep Time: 25 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 4 flour tortillas (approx. 8 inch)
  • 8 eggs
  • 2 slices bacon (optional)
  • 1 bell pepper, sliced
  • 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 cups grated Mexican blend cheese
  • 2 tbs butter
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • hot sauce for the quesadillas, if desired

Ingredients for Avocado Crema:

  • 1 avocado
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 jalapeno, seeds and stem removed
  • 3 tbs sour cream
  • 2+ tbs water
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Start by making the avocado crema. Combine the crema ingredients (avocado – sour cream) in a small food processor. Pulse to start combining the ingredients. Add enough water so that the crema is a dippable consistency; we added about 3 tbs of water to achieve this texture. Season the crema with salt and pepper and set aside.
  2. If you are making the quesadillas with bacon, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the bacon in the skillet until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and reserve the fat, leaving enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Slice the bacon into small, bite-sized pieces.
  3. Leaving the heat on, add the peppers and onions to the pan. Sauté until the peppers and onions start to brown and soften, about 5 minutes. Remove the peppers and onions from the pan into a bowl and set aside. Reduce the heat of the skillet to low.
  4. Crack the eggs into a small mixing bowl and whisk well. Add another tbs of bacon fat if you have it, or butter, to the pan. When it has melted add the eggs. Slowly stir the eggs constantly, seasoning with salt and pepper about halfway through. When the eggs are barely cooked, even just slightly undercooked, remove them from the heat and into the bowl with the peppers and onions. Clean the skillet well for making the quesadillas.
  5. Assemble the quesadillas by layers an even amount of cheese, bacon, egg, and peppers to each of two quesadillas, starting with the cheese so that the quesadilla sticks together. We prefer to put cheese on both the top and the bottom of the quesadilla, so divide the cheese into four parts when assembling.
  6. Heat the cleaned skillet back over medium heat, along with a second skillet if you have it. Add about 2 tsp butter to each of the two pans. Add one quesadilla to each pan and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the bottom cheese is nice and melted and the tortilla is crispy. Carefully flip the quesadillas and repeat for another 4-5 minutes. It is better to err on the side of cooking the quesadilla on too low of a heat than scorching the bottom trying to cook it quickly. When the quesadillas have finished cooking, remove them from the pans, let them rest for a minute, and slice into 8 slices.
  7. Serve the quesadillas hot with avocado crema and hot sauce on the side.

Wedge Salad with Avocado Lime Crema

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Tate’s mom hates blue cheese. There, we said it. Despite many attempts to appreciate the stinky cheese in all of its glory, she just can’t get on board. A wedge salad has been one of the few dishes she hasn’t found a way to enjoy until now. Our version of this classic salad combines many of the OG ingredients but uses an avocado lime crema dressing as a substitute for the cheese. The result? An equally delicious salad that can be enjoyed as a weeknight dinner or a perfect starter to a fancy steak night at home. Even the blue cheese lovers can enjoy this by sprinkling the stinky cheese on top before serving!

Wedge Salad with Avocado Crema
Makes: 4 side salad servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients for the Dressing:

  • 1 avocado
  • 1 lime
  • 1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tsp salt

Ingredients for the Salad:

  • 1 head iceberg lettuce
  • 8 strips of bacon
  • 2 plum tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 cup red onion, diced

Directions

  1. Combine the dressing ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. If the consistency of the dressing is too thick for your liking, add 1/4 cup of water at a time and blend until it is the desired consistency.
  2. Cook the bacon until crispy. Leave the bacon strips whole and blot the oil away with a paper towel.
  3. Cut the iceberg into 4 wedges. Put the wedges on 4 dishes and dollop a large scoop of the dressing on top. Add the onion, tomato and bacon over the wedge. Serve immediately.

Homemade Guacamole

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We named this classic appetizer Guacine Phoenix in honor of Joaquin’s role in The Joker, but all puns for the Golden Globes aside, we LOVE this guacamole recipe. It is the recipe that Tate’s mom has used for years, and as a result is the go-to guacamole recipe for everyone that tastes it. There is nothing sneaky about this recipe- it is just the perfect blend of all of the essential ingredients. 

Homemade Guacamole 
Makes: 6 appetizer servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes      Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: 

  • 3 large, ripe avocados
  • 1/4 cup lime juice (ideally from fresh limes)
  • 2 medium cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup red onion
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, stem and seeds removed
  • 1 serrano chili, stem and seeds removed
  • 1/3 cup packed cilantro leaves
  • salt and pepper, to taste 

Directions: 

  1. Place the garlic, red onion, jalapeno, serrano, and cilantro in a small food processor. Pulse until all of the components are minced. Add to a medium-sized bowl. If you do not have a food processor available, finely chop these ingredients and be careful not to touch your eyes after chopping! 
  2. Cut the avocados around the middle with a good knife. Split in half and stab the pit with your knife to remove it. Use a spoon to scrape out the avocado from the skin and into the bowl. Immediately add the lime juice to the avocados to prevent browning.
  3. Use a potato masher to break down the avocados. We like our guacamole on the chunky side, but mash until all of the ingredients are incorporated and the texture you desire. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
  4. Keep covered and chilled in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
  5. Serve with tortilla chips and mixed vegetables for dipping.