🥑 Cottage Cheese Guacamole 🥑
Sitting at a bar in the M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas….I was playing video poker, waiting for my hair appointment in the spa. The engaging bartender was about to go on break. She told us what she brought for her lunch: Cottage Cheese Guacamole. Several of us were intrigued. And as sweet as she is, she offered us a taste of her lunch. She said that she grew up in Arizona, and this is how they always made their guacamole.
A few gamblers took her up on the offer. She brought out plastic spoons from behind the bar and gave them a taste. They all nodded, oh that’s good…
I graciously turned down the sample, but decided to try the idea at home, with my guacamole recipe paired with cultured cottage cheese.
Cottage Cheese Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients
- avocados, mashably soft
- lime juice
- sea salt
- white onion, fine dice
- cherry tomatoes, quartered
- jalapeño, finely chopped
- cilantro, chopped
- cultured cottage cheese
Method
Place avocado flesh in a bowl. Squeeze lime juice over the avocado and season with salt. Mash avocado with an old fashioned potato masher. Then add onion, tomato, jalapeño, and cilantro. Stir to combine. Taste again for salt and lime juice. Finally, fold in the cottage cheese at approximately one part cottage cheese to two parts avocado mixture.
Rather than serving with tortilla chips, this Cottage Cheese Guacamole is served with sliced watermelon radish and chicharrones for dipping. The guacamole is higher in protein, and the sides are lower in carbs – for those counting…
Notes
White Onion
If you’ve ever heard Chef Rick Bayless talk about onions, you would never consider using a yellow onion in your guacamole! White onions have a bright and crisp and light flavor. He emphatically states that yellow onions are not a good choice for Mexican food and that Mexican food needs the brightness of white onions.
Cultured Cottage Cheese
The term “cultured” indicates the use of bacterial cultures to promote fermentation and acidification during the cheese-making process. This method is employed to enhance flavor, texture, and overall quality.
The presence of lactic acid produced during fermentation can impart a tangy or slightly sour flavor to the cheese. Additionally, the use of bacterial cultures contributes to a more complex and nuanced taste compared to cottage cheese made without them. The texture can also be affected, with cultured cottage cheese often having a creamier consistency.
Watermelon Radish
Watermelon radishes are firm, crisp, and astonishingly pretty. I slice them a bit thicker than I would for say, a salad or soup, so they are sturdy enough to pick up the guac.