Split Pea Guacamole! (Don't Knock it Til Ya Try It!)

Something I love almost as much as tomato, is avocado!  It's so creamy and full of flavor and I could eat it all day every day.  The bummer part is that it's pretty high in calories.  But it is really good for you and filling!  So I decided to try making a guacamole with half avocado and half split peas, plus a bunch of other veggies.  If I had to guess I would estimate it's 1/3 avocado, 1/3 cooked split peas and 1/3 other veggies.  It's chunky and so full of flavor and I could eat it all in one sitting, but honestly about 1/4, 1/3 with some corn Good Thins is enough to really fill you up.  I seriously have just this for lunch.  So before you decide peas don't belong in guacamole, give this a try! Food swaps have been my life line since I started this weight loss journey, so I get excited to share them!!

- 3/4 cup cooked split peas
- 1 avocado
- 6 cherry tomatoes, or 1/2 chopped medium tomato (variety of your choice)
- 6 cloves garlic
- 6 tbsp chopped red onion
- 1/2 to 1 whole jalapeno (depending on how much heat you like)
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- juice of 1 lime
- salt and pepper to taste

In a blender of food processor pulse 3/4 cup cooked split peas until pretty smooth with half the lime juice.  Add  tomato, onion, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro and salt and pepper and pulse just enough to combined, but still leaving it pretty chunky.  Cube half of the avocado and add it to the food processor.  Pulse a few times to blend it all together, still leaving it chunky.  Cube the other half of your avocado and add it, and the remaining half of the lime juice.  Do not blend this.  Just use a spatula or spoon to mix it by hand.  Because chunky guacamole is the best guacamole in my humble opinion.  Like I said, I like it with Corn Good Thin crackers, because they taste like tortilla chips but you get 41 of them for only 120 calories!!  But however you choose to eat your guac is up to you!!  Happy dipping!

This makes 4 hefty servings.  One serving is about 145 calories.