Guacamole: a nightshade-free dip that still tastes like itself

Classic guacamole leans on tomatoes and jalapenos, and both are nightshades, so most versions are off the table during the elimination phase. This one is not. It keeps everything that makes guacamole worth eating, the ripe avocado, the lime, the onion and cilantro, and simply leaves out the two ingredients that fight an autoimmune body. You do not have to give up the foods you love. You learn which version loves you back, and on a long road toward remission that small reframe is what keeps a person going.

Avocado is a source of monounsaturated fat and magnesium, the latter involved in hundreds of enzyme reactions and in a calmer nervous system. The lime adds a little vitamin C and the brightness that keeps the richness from sitting heavy. This is real food doing quiet work, not a cure, and it is the kind of thing you can keep in the refrigerator and reach for instead of something that sets you back.

Before you eat, take a breath and look at what is in front of you. A green so fresh it almost glows, flecked with onion and cilantro, a wedge of lime alongside. Scoop it with sliced carrot, celery, cucumber, or plantain chips. Eating something this alive, slowly and with attention, is part of how it serves you.

Ingredients

• 1 large avocado (or 2 small)
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

This recipe is already Core as written, no swaps needed. There are no tomatoes, peppers, or chili of any kind, so it is nightshade-free from the start. The garlic powder and onion powder are ground vegetables rather than seed-spices, so they stay exactly as listed.

Method

Halve the avocado, lift out the pit, and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Mash it with a fork to the texture you like, smooth or chunky.

Fold in the diced red onion, chopped cilantro, lime juice, garlic powder, onion powder, and sea salt. Stir until everything is evenly combined. Taste and adjust the salt and lime, then serve fresh.

To store, press the pit back into the surface, add an extra squeeze of lime on top, and wrap it airtight against the surface to slow browning. It is best the day it is made.

*Adapted from unboundwellness.com*

---

*Provenance: source-derived (re-grounded). Ingredient list taken as factual reference from /Users/Christopher/Documents/Claude/01-Projects/ARM/aip-source-archives/unbound-wellness/aip-guacamole.md. Method reworded in ARM's own words. The source is already nightshade-free, with no tomato or peppers, so the dip rests on avocado, lime, and permitted aromatics; garlic powder and onion powder are kept as permitted ground vegetables. No ingredient swaps were required. Quantities carried from source. This is a no-cook dish, so there are no appliance times to verify. Health framing written fresh, hedged, and flagged. No third-party text reproduced.*