Guacamole is a Southern California favorite. A perfect go-to meal after a long hike... a long drive... or an invigorating day of sightseeing.

It’s hearty and delicious. Quick ‘n easy to make. And it calls for just a handful of ingredients that travel well in a cooler.

Ingredients

• 1 Hass avocado

• 1 vine-ripened tomato

• 1 lime

• fresh cilantro

• salt

• black pepper

• tortilla strips

Directions

1) When the Hass avocado looks and feels ripe, cut it in half and remove the large seed at its center. For each avocado half, slice the inner fruit into medium-sized chunks then spoon it into a bowl.

2) Dice one-third of a vine-ripened tomato; and dice 1-2 spoonfuls of fresh cilantro leaves. Add them to the bowl.

3) Per your palate, add 1-2 squeezes of fresh lime juice, 2-4 pinches of salt and 1-2 pinches of ground black pepper.

4) Optional: Per your palate, you can also add 1-2 spoonfuls of one or more of the following: diced white onions, diced serrano chile, diced diced jalapeño. And/or 3-4 spoonfuls of grated Mexican cheeses.

5) Gently stir everything together with a fork until the avocado is in small chunks.

6) Eat immediately, using the tortilla strips as an edible scooper!

Tips

• Hass avocados ripen off the branch. So when you buy one, you usually need to wait a few days for it to ripen. When an avocado is ripe, its skin will be brownish-green in color and it will feel somewhat soft when squeezed.

• If you don’t have a lime, cilantro and/or black pepper on hand, you can still make a delicious guacamole with just avocado, tomato and salt.

• If you only want to use one-half of an avocado, keep the seed in the other half and wrap with cellophane. This prevents the inner fruit from spoiling quickly, when refrigerated.

• The tortilla strips are even tastier when warm; so if you have the luxury of a toaster oven or a campfire, heat them until they are warm and golden. Yum!