avocado sweet pepper tartare with baked tortilla chips

this is sort of a play on chips and guacamole--it’s way fancier looking, but just as easy to make. start with a few sliced-up tortillas. i made three different flavors: plain, carrot/tomato (orange), and spinach (green). for the two colorful tortilla batches i added puréed veggies instead of water. for spinach i also added cumin, garlic powder and lime juice, and for carrot/tomato i added chili powder, turmeric, garlic powder and lime juice.

the spinach tortillas were somewhat underwhelming in flavor because i under-seasoned the dough. but the carrot/tomato, my goodness, amazing! even the texture was different; they’re much moister and chewier than normal tortillas. and the spices are phenomenal.

making chips would be a great way to use up some stale tortillas. just heat the oven (or toaster oven) to 400, cut up your tortillas, brush them with a mixture of lime juice, chili powder and garlic salt (or any seasonings you want) and bake for about 10 minutes, or until brown and crisp. i find them visually unappealing but very tasty.

for the avocado sweet pepper tartare, slice a medium-sized avocado and dice half of a sweet bell pepper. in a bowl, mix together about a tablespoon of lime juice, a couple teaspoons each of fresh minced parsley (or cilantro) and sesame seeds, and a bit of garlic salt. add the avocado and sweet pepper and mix it all around. then, line a ramekin with plastic wrap and stuff it tight with the mixture. turn it upside down on a plate, dislodge the ramekin then peel off the plastic wrap. i garnished with sliced cherry tomatoes and a parsley leaf. if i did it over i would definitely use black sesame seeds, or at least toast them--white looks really blah.