Making Salsa...

One of the things I enjoy about summer is making salsa from local tomatoes. Not my tomatoes. I haven't had a lot of success with gardening. My family will tell you it's not my fault. Poor gardening skills are clearly inherited from your mother. But, I digress. Back to salsa.

Start with lots of tomatoes. Chop them up. I de-seed mine first. I have borderline OCD issues with tomato seeds. You can easily skip that step. It also might be easier to use the food processor that holds more than one cup of anything. Me? I like a challenge.


So, after you chop them, they'll look something like this.

Plunk them in a bowl.
Next you need an onion. I like the big, sweet vidalias. I only had a half of an onion left and it wasn't enough. Especially after Atlee came begging. Do I have the only four year old who LOVES onions? And has since she was two? Never enough onion for both cooking and Atlee. Chop up however much onion you have left after giving some to the begging kid.

Plop the onion in the bowl too.

Next is cilantro. Since we went to Virginia to party at the water park all weekend, I wasn't home to make Rich more salsa. My cilantro was pretty wilted looking by the time we got home.

Sometimes, with limp lettuce, you can perk it up by putting it in a cold bowl of water for a bit. Apparently, this hint does not extend to cilantro. I ended up with slimyish wilted cilantro. Oh well, in the bowl with you. I pluck the leaves off the stem and chop them a bit. Do whatever you feel comfortable doing. This is your salsa.

Salsa requires a jalapeno pepper or two. I only had one left.

So, you de-seed it as much as you like. More seeds means more heat. Chop it up and plunk it in the bowl.

That was my last picture. Around this time, my husband wandered into the kitchen, wondering what was taking so long. I couldn't take pictures and wrestle him for control of the bowl. I needed control because the salsa still needs salt. So, salt to taste. Serve with many margaritas. Yum, summer.