Milestone alert: this is Stupid Easy Paleo’s 100th post! Looking forward to the next 100 because I seriously love making all these recipes and sharing them.

There are about a million different ways to make guacamole, but I fancy mine plain and simple: avocado with a healthy dose of lime and salt [fun fact: the word "guacamole" comes from an Azetc word that basically means "testicle"]. I like my guacamole really tangy, so start with one lime and go up from there if you want more punch. When I was thinking of what to serve alongside to dip into it, I thought back to a few of the trips I’d taken down to Baja to race my bike several years back – immediately the memory of eating pepino con chile y limon (cucumber with chile and lime) from a vendor’s cart after a race – hit me. Crunchy and tart with a bit of smoky chile flavor, cucumbers with lime and chile make the perfect dipping platform though you can try any other veggies you like. I made my own chile powder by grinding down 3 dried ancho chiles and 3 dried guajillo chiles (seeds removed) in the Vitamix – you could use a spice grinder instead. I happen to live in Southern California where many markets have vast assortments of the dried chile pods, but feel free to use any store-bought chile powder you can find.

Prep time: 10 min     Cook time: 0 min    Makes: 1.5 cups of guacamole

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe avocados
• 3 limes
• Salt
• 1 cucumber
• 1 tbsp chile powder

Directions:

1. Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit. Use a spoon to scoop the green yumminess into a glass bowl. 
2. Roll the limes on the countertop to mobilize the juice inside. Squeeze the juice of two limes into the bowl (save the 3rd lime for the cucumbers). Sprinkle with salt to taste.
3. Mash the guacamole with your hands or with a fork. Hands are more fun, just be sure to wash them first.
4. Peel and slice the cucumbers on the bias (diagonal cuts give a longer piece). Squeeze the juice of one lime on top and sprinkle with chile powder and a bit of salt.
5. Consume.