homemade guacamole + salsa with chipotle-lime tortilla chips

You may have noticed that my posts as of late have been a bit reminiscent of summer. That's because I am so ready for it! (Although I've heard the humidity on this island can be pretty brutal.) Regardless, I am ready for weekends at the beach soaking up the summer sun and warm ocean water. Oddly enough, Okinawa's weather reminds me a little bit of the Midwest, in the sense that it seems to be a bit bipolar at times. One day it's cold and rainy, the kind of day that makes you want to curl up by the fire with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa. And the next, it feels like it's bikini weather. Of course we don't have the below freezing temps here that always tend to wear out their welcome, but for a tropical island, it can get pretty chilly.

But on the bright side, it's that time of year here on Okinawa that the markets are starting to sport their summer fruits and veggies. And boy oh boy that makes me happy. Berries are actually reasonably priced...well, considering. The cheapest I've seen strawberries here is $3 for a small basket, the most, $7 (the nerve!). Blueberries, raspberries - forget it. I try not to think about the specials back home at Henry's Farmers Market where they sell strawberries for 88¢ sometimes.

And oh the avocados. Guacamole is actually quite big here on the island, so it's not like I have been missing it entirely, but there really is nothing like when it's homemade. That goes for salsa, too. I threw together this homemade salsa last weekend with just three ingredients (tomatoes, onion, and cilantro) and I've been making it almost every other day since. It's that good. Of course I wasn't going to just eat it plain (although I totally could!), so I made some baked chipotle-lime tortilla chips (super easy) and fell immediately in love with the "smoky flavor" they added to my palate.

Speaking of guacamole, there is this amazing burrito truck just down the way from our house, which, ironically enough, the owner lived in San Diego for some time honing his craft at the "california burrito." He did a pretty good job, because you'll never see his truck without a handful of people in front of it. He certainly does make a burrito like no one else on this end of the island. Whenever we go, we always get his mango juice which I always seem to finish before anything else. It's so good. I was beyond happy when I found a delicious mango juice (pretty sure it's the exact same one) at a local market, and spruced it up with some coconut juice and fruit nectar. I think that will need a post all it's own one of these days.