Straight out of the garden from Mom and Dad's house....
- 2 medium jalapenos , seeded & finely diced (or leave them in if you want to burn your lips off)
- 1/2 medium onion, small dice
- 7-8 medium home grown tomatoes
- 2 tsp lemon or lime juice
- 1 home grown sweet bell pepper, finely diced
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder (high quality)**
- Kosher salt to your taste
- 2-3 tsp chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 basil leaves chopped
Be careful not to touch the seeds of the jalapeno. You may even find that you need to wear gloves if you are really sensitive. They will burn you for sure! A teaspoon works great to scoop them out.
There is no particular order that you need to follow with the ingredients.
Don't compromise on the fresh herbs (if you can absolutely help it). I know that I have a measurement for the cilantro listed above. I am only estimating that is how much that I used. I included this picture so that you could see about how many leaves that I used.
I seed the tomatoes and then chop them. If you will cut the ends off of the tomatoes, then cut them in half. Lay one half on the round side and run your knife between the seeds and the tomato's skin. Follow through to the other side (going in a half moon pattern). This is a quick way to remove the seeds without squeezing the life out of your tomatoes to get them out. I forgot to take a picture of that technique, but the next time that I do it, I'll come back and add a picture to this post.
Add the kosher salt to your taste and ENJOY!!!! ENJOY!!!! ENJOY!!!
**I like to use the "Tone's" brand of garlic powder (Sam's Wholesale) when Im making a recipe that I want garlic flavor infused without the bite of fresh garlic. This is not to say that you can't use the fresh garlic, but in this recipe, it can sometimes be overpowering. I like to be able to taste each of the ingredients individually. Also, the reason I like that brand of powder is that it's because it's a true powder. A lot of the cheaper versions of "garlic powder" are really dehydrated garlic that has not fully been made into a true powder. They can also be very overpowering. Anyhow...that's my little personal "tip of the day" ;o)
Let me know if you try your own salsa! Some great variations of the recipe above are to add some chopped fresh peaches. You can also add fresh corn or blackbeans...or you can add all three!
Happy salsa making!
