Easy, portable, and delicious, chips and dips are the ultimate party foods. While canned salsas taste pretty good when you’re drunk, and fine as long as you can keep your mind from wandering down that whole I’m-really-just-eating-soggy-vegetables path, making fresh dips is so easy that there’s no reason not to do it every once in awhile.

I decided against giving a recipe for the familiar red tomato salsa, because it really leans on perfectly ripe, flavorful tomatoes, which aren’t always available. Instead I’ve included a recipe for guacamole, maybe one of the few dips more beloved than salsa and ridiculously easy to make.

It seems like everyone has their own favorite way of making guacamole. My mom always just adds a little garlic and lemon juice to the avocado, but I’ve seen people who love to mix in lots of chopped fresh cilantro or add prepared salsa from a jar. As long as you follow your taste buds, it’s hard to go wrong here. One common addition I would advise against is sour cream. Since the avocado is naturally so creamy, it doesn’t make much sense to add a lot of fat to the dish. Anyway, I think a rustic, deep green guacamole of roughly mashed avocados with a few flavorings is a lot more appealing than the slimy, snot-green liquid you’ll get from adding a lot of sour cream.

Many stores now carry both the green-black, pebbly-skinned Hass, and the lighter green, smooth-skinned Fuerte variety. The Hass’s creamy texture makes it superior for guacamole, but you can make something really good with whatever type of avocado you have on hand. Just make sure it’s ripe. You should be able to press your thumb into the side and make a dent. Buying hard avocadoes is fine too — just leave them on the counter for a few days to ripen.

Guacamole

2 ripe avocados

1 clove garlic, minced

Lemon juice, to taste

Salt

Cut the avocado in half by running a knife lengthwise around the pit, and twisting the halves apart. Then, either lodge a chef’s knife into the pit with a firm whack and twist to remove, or simply scoop it out with a spoon. Next, use a spoon to scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl. Mash it roughly with a fork. Don?t be afraid to leave it chunky. Stir in the garlic and the lemon juice, a little at a time, until you get a good acidity. It shouldn’t take very much. You can season it with a little salt, though if your chips are salty you may not need it.

This is best made right before you want to consume it, but will keep for a couple hours without turning brown if it’s refrigerated and covered with plastic wrap. Supposedly, leaving the pit in with the guacamole prolongs the process, but I wouldn’t put too much faith in that.

Variations: Diced tomatoes or onions, chopped cilantro, chili powder or minced fresh chilies are all common additions. Use what you have and what you think tastes good.

Tell Nate what you put in your guacamole at nsolon@stanford.edu.