Avocado Queso Dip

Avocado blended with queso and salsa verde for a creamy smooth dip. An excellent base for another layered vegetable appetizer.

This is not a sponsored post, though it probably reads like it. It's just on my mind, coming through the pen, and eventually through the screen. There is nothing to disclose.

In anticipation of Earth Day my family spent Saturday morning at our community park. We dug out muck from a drainage ditch, spread mulch across a playground, and enjoyed the pleasant feeling of being tired from physical work. That sounds so snooty, but our workdays are not spent shoveling, raking, and hauling wheelbarrows. It's a nice change to work at something physically and have immediate gratification. We went home and kept on going. Spending a weekend doing yard work is very fulfilling for me, though I understand I'm in the minority. I can deal with that.

See, I've got a secret: I've got good tools.

Just like how sharp knives and pizza stones make my days successful in the kitchen, the right tools make working in the garden a dream. I've mentioned my daughter's peach trees before, but what I haven't said was that the semi-dwarf variety was sneaking up to the power lines. My spouse fretted, then researched and bought a pruner stick. This tool is amazing. After he lopped off the offending branches, my daughter took charge and completed her annual pruning with ease. She's taller than I am, true--but her success comes from this tool. [It's her tree, she's in charge, we just advise and assist as needed.] One success led to another and I decided to do something about the bush that was trying to take over the driveway.

Last year a rogue branch dove down and took root in the mulch, starting a new colony right next to the asphalt and that just wouldn't do. I grabbed a trimmer but got stuck on the whole 'T Rex arm lack of upper body strength' thing. My spouse suggested I try the pruner. Holy cow! That thing cuts through thick branches like butter! After I brushed off some dirt from the blade it went in my finger like butter, too. Don't be like me, treat this tool with respect. [I still have 10 fingertips, I'm healing fine.] I extricated dead shrubs with this workhorse before switching to a smaller tool to remove the spent raspberry canes and transplant some new starts to make a second raspberry bed. On a roll, I fed the strawberry patch a Spring breakfast of coffee grounds and leaf mulch, then decided to feed the rest of the garden beds as well. The kids mowed after I picked violets to make my next Wild Violet treats, and my spouse de-dandilioned the yard with his favorite Japanese tool before spreading mulch on the dogs' race track, re-banking Dead Man's Curve.

We're greening up our little part of the world. Here's a green appetizer for you.

For other recipes using avocados, please see my Avocado Recipe Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. For other Awesome Veggie Apps and Snacks, please check out my Pinterest board of the same name.

I think the colors look nicely Cinco de Mayo-ish.

Avocado Queso Dip

¼ cup chopped sweet onion
½ cup herbs (cilantro and/or parsley--I used a blend of what was on hand)
¼ cup crumbled queso
2 to 3 Tablespoons salsa verde (I put mine up with farm share tomatillos and roasted Hatch chiles)
¾ teaspoons salt
3 to 4 Tablespoons lime juice
2 avocados

Combine all ingredients in a food processor.  Pulse a few times to bring it together, pause to scrape down the sides, then process until uniformly smooth.  Serve with tortilla chips, or turn it into a layered vegetable appetizer and top with chopped bell peppers, chopped sweet onion, pickled jalapeños, more crumbled queso, more salsa verde, and/or green or kalamata olives.

Oh and the tools I've been raving about? Amazon affiliate links all below, well used by my family.



This post is shared on What's Cookin' Wednesday