Last year my household was lucky enough to have a membership in a great little local food co-op that delivered a huge bundle of organic produce every other week. You never knew until you showed up exactly what you’d be getting, which is in large part why I wanted to join — to force myself to get creative with new fruits and veggies. (If you have access to a local co-op or CSA [community-supported agriculture] group, I highly recommend it both for variety and to save money. Plus, it typically will help support local farmers.)

One week early on in our membership, we were blessed with a couple ripe mangoes. But what do you do with mango (other than add it to smoothies, anyway)? It turned out that neither of us liked mango by itself, so we needed to add it to something else. My husband Joe hunted far and wide, and he ultimately decided to use one of our mangoes for guacamole. I was initially skeptical, but one taste and I fell in love.

This is now my hands-down favorite guacamole of all time (and I love my household’s traditional guacamole as well, but there’s something special about this mango stuff). And the best part is it’s simple to make and enjoy! Great for crowds, kids and Mexican food fans!

Here’s what you need:

- 1 ripe mango
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/4 to 1/2 of a medium onion (red onion or other sweet onion is best)
- 1 clove fresh garlic, peeled and minced
- juice of 1 lime

Peel onion and run through food processor till chopped finely. Place into 3-cup bowl. Add in minced garlic and lime juice.

Peel mango and place fruit in food processor. Scoop out avocado and place in food processor. Pulse until smooth. (You can also simply mash avocado with a fork for chunkier guac.) Stir into onion/garlic/lime juice mixture. Serve with baked corn tortilla chips or as part of a complete Mexican meal. If you don’t serve it immediately, cover with plastic wrap (leave no air bubbles to keep avocado from turning brown) and chill.

Serves 2-3

Healthy eating notes:

Choose an avocado that is soft to the touch, but not mushy, and avoid any avos that appear bruised. If you can’t find a good ripe avocado, simply set the avocado on your kitchen counter and check it once a day. It should ripen within a few days at room temperature even if it’s hard as a rock when you first buy it. I personally like guacamole made with a refrigerated avocado, though, so I stick the ripe avo in the fridge a few hours before I make dinner.

You can use frozen mango instead of fresh as a shortcut; it doesn’t taste quite as stellar, but is still very good.

As with all recipes made with whole foods in somewhat simple (but utterly delicious) combinations, every ingredient plays its part in making the recipe wonderful. A really strong onion can kill this guacamole. I highly recommend tasting a tiny bit of the onion when you slice it; if it’s very strong, use no more than a quarter onion. If the onion is lovely and sweet, the guac can tolerate more of it.

Notice that I do not add any salt to this (or any other) recipe; we get plenty of sodium from the whole foods we eat, though you can salt to taste if you wish.

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com