Guacamole

Choose Hass avocados that give slightly when pressed gently in the palm. Very firm fruit will be bland and hard to mash. Halve them, remove the stones and scoop the flesh into a bowl.

Very finely chop the red onion, the green chilli (remove the seeds for less heat) and the coriander, stalks included. Halve the tomato, scoop out the seeds and cut the flesh into small dice.

Put the onion, chilli, coriander and a large pinch of salt in a separate bowl and crush them against the side with the back of a fork for about a minute. This bruises them and releases their juices, so the flavour is spread through the dip.

Add the avocado and mash roughly with the fork, keeping about a third of it in chunks for texture.

Fold in the tomato and lime juice. Taste and add more salt or lime until the avocado tastes bright rather than flat. It usually needs more salt than you expect.

Serve straight away with tortilla chips, tacos or fajitas. To keep it for a few hours, press a sheet of cling film directly onto the surface so no air touches it, and refrigerate. Lime juice slows browning but does not stop it, so scrape off any darkened top layer before serving.