When I serve a filling entree, I like to have a refreshing salad. It offers a nice contrast, makes the meal a little lighter, and cuts the fattiness of the main dish. Here is a simple version, dressed only with fresh orange jucie, that goes great with Mexican and other Latin-American meals. You can work on it while your entree finishes cooking, or it is a great task to give to a friendly volunteer. Don't forget to pass them a cerveza!

If you haven't had jicama (pronounced hee-come-uh) before, you are in for a treat. The texture is crisp like an apple and a little sweet. I believe there are uses for it cooked, but I've only used them for salads. They are surprisingly easy to find in the specialty section of fairly average grocery stores, and of course you can find them at Mexican markets.

Jicama, Orange and Radish Salad
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free
Serves 4 as a little side dish

• 1/2 jicama peeled and cut into 1/4" x 1/4" x 2" batons
• 1 big handful radishes, trimmed and cut into quarters
• 4 valencia oranges, cut into supremes (segments without the membrane, see this post for more discussion and another use), juice reserved
• handful of cilantro leaves, roughly torn
• salt
• black pepper

1. Combine the jicama, radishes, orange segments and cilantro with a big pinch of salt and several hearty grinds of pepper.
2. Add 1/4 cup of the orange juice and toss lightly.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Actual imaginary telephone conversation:

You: "Hey, wanna come for dinner on Friday?"
Friend: "Sure! Any chance you are making Mexican food?"
You: "We'll see... talk to you later"
Friend, turns to partner: "He said maybe! I hope he makes that guacamole!"

I've never understood why people buy pre-made guacamole. The store-bought stuff ranges from barely ok to green glue. The real thing takes all of five minutes to make and tastes spectacular. I'll show you how. I usually make a four-avocado batch and it is just enough to satisfy four adults and a couple of munchkins, so you can tell how popular it is at my house.

First of all, what goes in to great guacamole? Rich, sweet, unctuous avocado set off by bright lime juice, a little sharp bite of garlic and onion, herbacious cilantro and of course a bit of salt is all it takes. If you want to gild the lily with tomato or jalapeno, that can be nice too.

The avocados have to be ripe, and they have to be Hass. Those big, tempting looking, smooth-skinned California avocados have zero flavor. There might be other varieties that taste as good as Hass but I haven't had them.

You can tell if an avocado is ripe if it gives under gentle pressure from the pad of your thumb. If the skin is wrinkly and looks like it has voids underneath, it is probably starting to rot. If you open one up and have any doubts, taste it first - and just chuck it if it isn't right. You can't make good guacamole from bad avocados.

To extract the flesh of the avocado, first carefully run your knife all the way around the pit vertically and then twist to separate the halves. Again carefully gouge the corner of the knive near your hand a little way into the pit and twist a little to remove it. Now just use a big spoon to scoop out the flesh. If that isn't clear, let me know and I could post a little video to show the moves - once you have the hang of it, it just takes a few seconds per avocado.

Guacamole tastes best freshly made, but you can hold it for a few hours in the refrigerator and it will still be great. Just press plastic wrap right down on the surface to avoid unsightly oxidation.

Here's the recipe:

Ridiculously Good Guacamole in Five Minutes
Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free
Serves 4-6 greedy guac hounds

• 4 ripe Hass avocados
• 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 small handful cilantro leaves, lightly chopped
• 1/4 cup finely diced white onion
• juice of 1 lime
• salt

1. Extract the avocado flesh into a medium bowl as described above.
2. Add all of the other ingredients, including 1 teaspoon of salt.
3. Mash and mix lightly. I prefer a potato masher but the back of a big fork works well too.
4. Taste and add salt and more lime juice if needed.

I love to make sweet bread puddings with leftover challah or brioche, because they are already rich. Today's version is filled with molten chunks of bittersweet chocolate. Let's just say I find myself eating less challah on Friday night because I'm hoping there will be enough left to make this for dessert the next day.

The critical understanding of bread pudding is that it is a custard, albeit heavily garnished with bread. Once you realize that, and treat it appropriately in terms of ratios and temperatures, you have a lot of freedom to tweak the components and be assured of making a great dessert.

Speaking of ratios, I recently read Mark Ruhlman's Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking and have found it very valuable. While the idea of basic ratios for custards, pastry, sauces and so on isn't new to me, I've found it much easier to remember them and improvise. For example, I know now that 2 large eggs : 1 cup of milk is a reliable ratio for a free-standing custard like flan, and it works just fine for bread pudding as well.

I chose to bake this in one large dish. To avoid overcooking the edges, I do it covered in a relatively slow oven. Individual ramekins would be a fine choice as well; you could even put them in a water bath the way you do for flan or creme brulee.

Chocolate-chunk Bread Pudding
Serves 6-8
Lacto-ovo vegetarian

• 1 tablespoon sweet butter
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sugar
• big pinch of salt
• 14 ounces challah or brioche, preferably slightly stale, most of the crust removed and cut into 3/4" cubes
• 7 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate, in the 70% range, cut into good sized chunks - not a whole mouthful but a lot bigger than a chocolate chip

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F., using convection if you have it.
2. Butter a large shallow baking dish, around 8" x 12".
3. Beat the eggs. Whisk in the milk, starting with just a little at a time until the eggs are well distributed. Whisk in the vanilla extract, sugar, and salt.
4. Place the cubed bread in the pan. Pour the custard evenly over the bread and toss lightly, trying to get it to absorb without squashing the bread too much..
5. Add the chocolate chunks and again toss gently to distribute.
6. Cover the pan with tin foil and cook until it reaches an internal temperature in the center of 185 F. For me this took about one hour and fifteen minutes. You can also check for doneness with a fork, and as it gets close, by taking a bite. You want it to be well set, but not overcooked and rubbery.
7. Let rest ten minutes and serve it forth. A bit of whipped cream, a drizzle of heavy cream, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream are all very welcome. If you want to whisk a bit of good bourbon into that cream, don't let me stop you.