With ripe avocados, guacamole a pleaser

One of the best things about the Super Bowl is avocados.

I use avocados to make guacamole, of course, but also to slice for sandwiches and salads and to serve with omelettes or eat sliced and sprinkled with a little salt, chopped cilantro and a drizzle of olive oil.

You also can mash avocados and season them to use as a spread for sandwiches or puree them for smoothies or creamy salad dressing.

The guacamole recipe here is adapted from Milk Street magazine. In the original, there was no lime juice; instead, the recipe relied only on the acid from the tomatoes to keep from turning color and to balance. I added lime juice because it pairs well with the avocado and cilantro.

Some of the biggest avocado issues are how to buy, slice and store.

Here are a few tips to get you through.

• Ripeness: A ripe avocado will yield to gentle pressure when pressed with your finger. With the most common varieties sold at grocery stores, if the outside skin of the avocado is green, it’s not ripe. The skin should be deep purplish or almost black in color.

Buy green (under ripe) avocados if you don’t plan on using them right away. If left on the counter, they should ripen with 3 days. Once ripe, you can store in the refrigerator.

• Slice: Insert a knife into the avocado until it reaches the seed. Cut around the seed, rotating the avocado with one hand and holding the knife with the other. Turn the avocado by a quarter, and cut it in half lengthwise again. Rotate the avocado halves in your hands and separate the quarters. This

makes it easier to remove the seed. Remove the peel from quarters and then slice or dice the avocado.

• Scoop: Follow the same method for slicing, only don’t quarter the avocado. Once you slice around the seed, twist to separate the halves. Remove the seed by sticking the knife in the seed and twisting to remove it. Scoop out the avocado flesh.

• Storage: To prevent discoloration, add lemon or lime juice to sliced or mashed avocado. If you make guacamole and don’t plan on using right away, cover it with plastic wrap pressing the plastic directly on the dip. It will keep at least overnight. Some sources recommend using red onion instead of white