Salsa

One of the joys of having a backyard garden is fresh tomatoes.  This year, we have managed to grow more tomatoes than the squirrels can eat, and we have enough for salsa.  There are thousands of recipes for salsa, and this is my favorite one.

 One large green bell pepper chopped fine. You could use a red one as well.

One medium purple onion chopped fine.  A white one would work, but I love the way the purple looks in the salsa.

Two jalapenos with the seeds removed, chopped very fine.  We love the heat in ours.  You can leave this out if you want to.  But why would you want to?

Chop the tomatoes, although they don't have to be as fine as the jalapenos.  I do not peel the tomatoes.

Ain't that pretty?  It is ready now, but I like to add a little extra.

This is about half a bunch of cilantro.  It is hard to chop when it is wet, so I wash it before I start and use paper towels to dry it.  Hub loves this, and he would put the whole bunch of cilantro in if he was making it.

At this point, I added a teaspoon of black pepper and about a teaspoon and a half of salt.

Add the juice of one lime.  This makes a huge difference.

And it is done!  This is not hard to make at all, but the chopping does take some time.  I have found that any kind of machine will make the pepper and onions mushy, so I always chop by hand.  It is actually therapeutic for me.

 Storing it in this juice container makes it easy to pour over omelets, chips, potatoes, or anything else you are having. It will stay fresh for three or four days, but it rarely lasts that long here.

Please share any salsa secrets that you have.