Asada BBQ Dips - pico de gallo, guacamole and red salsa

Today we're having a family barbecue. I'm making a few dips to go with the carne asada.

Pico de gallo:
6 big roma tomatoes, seeded
1/2 big yellow onion
1 jalapeno
1/2 bunch cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbs kosher salt

This is the basic raw salsa that goes awesome with tortilla chips. I pulse everything in a food processor until it is very finely chopped but not a mush, a little at a time, then combine it. If you like it chunkier, you can just chop everything small.

I discovered a new trick today to make it less soupy. Chop the onion and tomato first and sprinkle it with the salt. After it sits for a bit, a lot of the moisture will come out and you can pour that off before adding the rest.

Guacamole:
3 large avocados
5 cloves garlic
1/3 large red onion
2 limes
Black Pepper
Kosher salt

Finely chop the garlic and onion and add the juice of the limes, pepper and salt. Mix. I like it to have some texture, so I do the avocados in two batches. Add two avocados and smash with a fork until well combined. Add the last avocado and smash it most of the way, leaving it a little chunky. Yum.

Red salsa:
6 big roma tomatoes
1/2 big yellow onion
2-3 serrano peppers
1 lime
1 tbs kosher salt
1/2 bunch cilantro

Chop the tomatoes and onions into quarters, and halve the peppers lengthwise. Throw some oil into a pan - I usually use canola but today safflower worked well - and cook the veggies in batches. You want them to brown a little but not completely blacken. Let them cool and then throw then in the food processor with the cilantro and salt. Add some water if it seems too thick. Add the juice of the lime then add more salt if needed.

And there you have it: the super simple trifecta of dips.