When the weather starts to settle and the soil is warm and crumbly, I start to dream about picking and eating juicy, sweet tomatoes and crunchy, spicy peppers, straight from the garden. I know I will need to wait a couple more months, but at least I can start planning what to do with them when they ripen, right? My favorite fresh salsa recipe goes like this:
-
2 to 3 tomatoes ( sauce tomatoes are preferable, but any tomato will do)
-
1/2 to 1 sweet onion
-
1 or 2 jalapeños or other fresh hot peppers, or to taste
-
salt to taste
-
juice of 1/2 of a lime, optional
-
small bunch of cilantro
This simple recipe lends itself to creativity; some possible additions:
- diced mango or pineapple
- diced cucumber
- black pepper
- parsley instead of cilantro, if you are one of the people with a genetic aversion to cilantro
- small cooked, chilled shrimp
Finely chop onion, tomatoes and hot peppers; discard the seeds and veins if you want to tone down the spiciness. Trim cilantro stem ends, then finely chop, stems and all. Add salt and lime juice, gently stir all ingredients together, and enjoy with tortilla chips, or any way you like.
