Fresh Salsa, almost like Vacation

This past weekend we had friends over for linner, late lunch/early dinner.  Since we were prepping the food, and they were supplying the drinks, I got started on planning out a themed menu.  The weekend before I  reminisced about the amazing food we ate on our honeymoon to Mexico, and so the theme developed on it's own, we'd be doing a Latin inspired meal.

We served up salsa fresca, chunky guacamole, mango coconut fish and pulled pork tacos, roasted tomatillos, out of this world tostones, cilantro rice and garlicky black beans, watermelon and lemon, and Mexican s'mores.

The Salsa was a huge hit, and it turns out it is actually America's most popular condiment - who knew?!  

 

Ingredients:

3 cups of Cherry Tomatoes

1/2 cup of Red Onion

1/2 cup of White Onion

1/4 cup of Cilantro

1 Jalapeno, with seeds removed and sliced

The Juice of 1 Lime

A sprinkle of salt to taste

I think salsa is a dish where you sort of know what you like.  Want more onions? Throw in more onions.  Hate cilantro?  Skip it.  

One tip I practiced was something I learned from Chef Rick Bayless, which was to wash the onion in a bit of cold water to reduce their bite.  I guess if you wanted that onion-y bite you could skip that too.

Here is a trick that we created out of necessity, and it worked like a charm: we didn't want soupy salsa.  So as the tomatoes were being chopped they were dropped into a colander so that the extra tomato juice could drain out.  

Then all the ingredients go into one big bowl, and they get to know each other, they mingle, they dance and then they meet a chip and fall in love. No chips?  Yikes!  Also amazing with rice and beans, over grilled chicken or eggs.

If you have a bounty of summer tomatoes, this is a simple, low calorie way to use them up, and transport yourself to a beach vacation getaway.