Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with gourmet Guacamole Salad

Since our teens were tots, we've loved celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a Mexican "feast." Mexican food is fast, and the holiday is an easy way to make dinner more fun.

When our kids were very young, we simply opened a taco kit and cranked up the mariachi tunes. In the middle grades, we introduced So Simple Salsa (find our five-minute recipe at www.desperationdinners.com). Years later, our daughters had advanced to making their own guacamole with fresh avocados. Buying the right avocados can make or break guacamole, so here's our favorite avocado tip:

Buy green, hard (unripe) avocados three days to a week ahead and ripen them yourself. Leave them on the counter, and as soon as they turn black and yield to gentle pressure, put them into the refrigerator to bring the ripening to a near standstill. (They'll keep at this stage for at least three more days and often up to five more.)

This method gives you ripe avocados still firm enough to use in a salad and prevent brown spots on the flesh. (If you buy a black, ripe avocado, make sure that it's not too soft when pressed, or it's likely to be marred with brown inside.) If you need to hurry the ripening process, put avocados into a brown paper bag with an apple or banana.

Today's recipe for Guacamole Salad is the latest chapter in our Cinco de Mayo saga. A bit more sophisticated than plain guacamole, this salad is a gourmet delight. Serve it with chilled shrimp or grilled-chicken skewers. No matter what you eat to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, we believe avocados improve the feast vastly.

Menu suggestion: Cinco de Mayo Guacamole Salad

Precooked and peeled shrimp or grilled chicken

Warm flour tortillas

CINCO DE MAYO GUACAMOLE SALAD

Start to finish: 20 minutes

3 tablespoons olive oil

Juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 dashes Tabasco sauce, or to taste

1 large ripe tomato (for about 1 cup chunks)