– An Easy Spread –

The last thing you want to do on a 97-degree-day is slave over your kitchen top.  This is why fresh salsa is one of my favorite recipes for cook outs, parties, or just hanging around the house.  I first had fresh salsa on a trip to Mexico.  It wasn’t at all like the watered down American version.  I ate bowls of this sweet, hot stuff and then washed it down with tequila.  My recipe is a slight variation on what I experienced there.  My version is easy, cheap, and tasty!  It’s also a guilt free snack with no fat, low calories, a lots of vitamins.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 large tomato
• 1/3 cup of chopped white onion
• 2 tbsp. of chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp. of chopped cilantro
• A squeeze of fresh lime juice
• 3 tbsp. of chopped peppers (you can pick your favorite, but jalapeno always works well)
• 3 tbsp. of chopped mango (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

This recipe works best if you use the freshest ingredients possible.  If you have a small backyard garden space, you can grow the tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro with relative ease.  If not, check your local farmer’s market or your nearest grocer.  Buying local produce is often fresher and it helps your community.  Another good place to check for produce is an international grocer, such as Grand Mart.  International grocers tend to have a larger selection of produce and herbs and it’s usually cheaper.  I got all this for under $3.00:

Start by chopping up all your ingredients.  Finely chop the garlic and peppers, but feel free to do a coarse chop on all the other ingredients.  Tip to remember: when working with hot peppers you should wear gloves or coat your fingers with vegetable oil.  This will stop the peppers from stinging your skin. Slice the pepper down the middle, then scoop out the seeds.  If you forget to remove the seeds from your peppers, you’ll have some incredibly hot salsa.

After everything is chopped up, mix the components together.  Squeeze in your lime juice, add several shakes of salt, and pepper to taste.  You can eat it right then, but I’ve noticed that the flavor gets better if you let it marinate in the fridge for a night.  The salsa keeps for about a week.

Try it with tortilla chips, tacos, or as an entree topper.  It’s a colorful snack to impress your guests!

Alyssa is working on her MFA in nonfiction at George Mason University. She’s a fan of bar cuisine and live music.

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How did this recipe work out for you?  Leave me comments to tell me how it went:

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