I’m the type of person who could make guacamole every single day. To me, the taste of fresh avocados, lime, cilantro and tomatoes harmonize together like no other dip. To make it healthy, I eat guacamole with carrots, but sometimes I splurge on my caloric intake and go with Tostitos with a hint of lime. The extra lime, crunch and guacamole fusion is unparalleled.
For this week’s column, I want to share my chili chicken lime burger with homemade guacamole, caramelized onions and fresh tomatoes. I generally serve it with sweet potato fries and a salad.
What you’ll need:
For the Guacamole:
1 avocado
½ small sweet onion
1 tablespoon cilantro
1 stalk scallion
1 tomato
½ lime
Hot sauce
Red pepper flakes
Garlic powder
A pinch of kosher salt
For the Burger:
A thawed chili chicken lime burger (Trader Joe’s are the bomb)
1 bun
½ small sweet onion
Olive oil
Fresh garlic
Lettuce
Sliced tomato
Sugar
Instructions:
For the guacamole:
First I want you all to make sure your avocado is perfectly ripe. It should yield to a light squeeze. If it does, it is ripe. If not, no need to fret — wait a couple days before you make this recipe.
With a sharp knife, carefully slice your avocado lengthwise around the core. Then pull the avocado apart. To take the core out, puncture the pit with your knife and cautiously pull it out. Spoon out the avocado and mash it up in a bowl. (I use my Magic Bullet; if you have one, it speeds up the process. If not, I suggest purchasing one. It’s amazing!) Finely chop your onion and tomato. Add a tablespoon of chopped cilantro and a stalk of chopped scallion. Add the salt, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and hot sauce to your liking. Finally, squeeze the lime in and stir.
For the burger:
Peel the onion and chop it lengthwise to a small thickness. The smaller you slice it, the quicker it will cook! Put it in a pan with a little olive oil on the stove to a medium-high setting. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar to the onions. Cook until brown.
While the onions are cooking, place the thawed chicken patty in a different heated and oiled pan and cook thoroughly. It’s done when it is completely white on the inside.
While the chicken and onions are cooking, you can toast or heat the bun in a saucepan. After everything is done, it’s time to combine! Lather the heated bun with guacamole (I prefer a lot), add the caramelized onions, place on the sliced tomatoes and lettuce, and on the bottom should be your burger.
Suggestions:
You can easily make this a chili chicken taco. While holding everything else constant you can break up the chicken as it cooks and serve it on a soft or hard taco shell. Garnish with Mexican cheese and sour cream if you’d like!
If you don’t have all of the ingredients, guacamole can easily be made with your favorite salsa and avocados.