The three best ways to keep guacamole or avocados from turning green!

Image from The Kitchn

I used to just use plastic wrap, wrapped as tight as possible. Maybe if you could get it perfectly smooth over every molecule, but that's not happening! Okay, so I heard about adding the avocado pit to the bowl. Tried that; no help. Adding lime juice or tomato slices on top? Helps a little, but not enough.

One time when I wanted to doggy-bag the last of my favorite restaurant guacamole, and no plastic wrap at hand, I had an idea. I smoothed the guacamole out, then spread a layer of sour cream over it, completely covering it so no green could be seen.

Next day, it was still a bright, fresh green -- nice! And I don't mind stirring a little sour cream into my guac. I wondered if the same thing would work for cut avocados. Sour cream turned out to be a little too soft for this application -- but softened butter worked great. Again, you just have to spread it thick enough so no green shows through. Then wrap it with plastic wrap to keep the butter in place.

The reason these both work is because they completely seal the avocado off from any oxygen.

Now I see that The Kitchn has a similar method for keeping guacamole from turning brown: cover it with a half inch of water, in a closed container in the fridge. For up to three days, they say. Because the guacamole is so fatty, it's not going to mix with the water. The author says, "After I take it out and pour off the water, I stir up the guacamole and the texture is no different than when it was made. In fact, I like the taste of guac after it has sat in the fridge overnight; I find the cilantro and onion flavors are blended better."

Serious Eats says that you can do the same thing with cut avocado pieces. "I store my unused avocado pieces in a plastic container filled with water in the fridge for up to overnight. Perfect, oxygen-free seal for any shape, and because an avocado is so dense and high in fat, water is slow to penetrate it (it'll eventually become softer)."

So there you go: all you need to keep the green stuff green is sour cream, butter, or water. I love simple solutions!

Salmon with fresh tomato-avocado salsa

This is so simple, and so yummy, it's gonna knock your socks off!

The star of this dish is the salsa. It's so delicious! My husband took leftovers of just the salsa to work for lunch today (I made extra) and when he came home, he said, "If you would make some more of that I'd be very, very happy."

I had a bit of leftover salmon with the salsa on it for lunch, too; cold -- straight out of the fridge. It was still good!

This is based on a recipe from All Recipes, but I prefer butterflying and broiling the salmon, to the nuke-and-serve-cold method in the original recipe. Alternatively, you could grill the salmon; that would be fab, too!

You could also substitute basil for the cilantro. In fact, I think I will, next time I make this. I bet that will rock this dish even more!

I used white corn because it's got a little better carb-to-protein ratio, but I think yellow corn makes a prettier dish. NOTE: To make this dish Paleo/Whole30 compliant, just omit the corn.

Recipe: Salmon with fresh tomato-avocado salsa   

(adapted from Chilled Salmon With Summer Tomato Salsa, allrecipes.com)

Servings: 3-4

1 cup chopped fresh tomato

1/2 Hass avocado, chopped into about 1/4" pieces

1/2 cup corn (omit for Whole30/Paleo compliance)

1/4 cup minced red onion (a fine dice, or slivers)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or basil)

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 T. olive oil

1 T. balsamic vinegar

1.25 lbs. salmon fillets

salt and pepper, to taste

olive oil for drizzling

Chop up the tomato, avocado, garlic, onion, and cilantro (or basil). To dice the avocado, you cut through it like this, leaving the skin intact, then scoop it out with a spoon.

If you want more detail, see Simply Recipes' walk-through. (I do NOT recommend the pit removal method they show in step 2b; a woman I know cut some tendons in her hand trying that trick.) 

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients from tomato through vinegar. 

Refrigerate at least two hours.

Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

How to butterfly salmon

The purpose of butterflying salmon is to make it all about the same thickness, so that it cooks more evenly. It also cuts down on oven time.

Put your salmon on a cutting board, skin side down. (Mine is already in the baking pan in these pics, but it will be easier to work on a cutting board; you don't have to maneuver around the rim of the pan.) Start by making a guide mark: in the thickest point of the fillet, use the tip of your knife to mark the spot exactly halfway from top to bottom.

The black line in the pic below shows where your knife will enter; the white dashed line shows where you will cut. The cut should run right through your halfway mark. 

On the thinnest end of the salmon, slide your knife in parallel to the cutting board, and at the same height as your halfway mark. Continue to cut, keeping your knife parallel to the cutting board. Stop about 3/4" away from the opposite edge; do NOT cut all the way through.

If you have been working on the cutting board, move your salmon to the foil-lined pan now. Next, open the sliced salmon up like it's a book, folding the top piece out so it lays former-top-side down.

Repeat with the other fillet(s), season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. 

Broil 4-6" from the heat, just till it flakes easily w/ a fork, about 8-10 minutes per inch of thickness. (That is, the thickness after you butterflied it.)

Remove the salmon from the skin; plate in serving-sized pieces; top with the salsa.

Try it, then come back and tell me how much you love it! :)