Tomato Salsa

By Paul Briand

I consider salsa and chips one of the major food groups.

This recipe from AARP the Magazine provided me with a tasty salsa that was easy to prepare, if you don’t mind all the slicing and dicing that is necessary.

I liked the alchemy of mixing all these ingredients, to the point that it was easy to slip in another ingredient -- in my case some leftover watermelon -- without affecting the overall flavor. I also mixed in a chopped yellow bell pepper.

I served this salsa with a dollop of guacamole as a topping to a salmon fillet that I grilled with a brown sugar/lemon zest rub (more on that recipe next week).

Ingredients

2 cups seeded, chopped tomatoes (variety of red, yellow and orange suggested, if you can find them)

¼ cup diced red onion (I mixed in some sweet Vidalia onion for good measure)

½ teaspoon of minced garlic

¾ teaspoon freshly ground cumin (I used the cumin from my spice rack)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 banana pepper, stemmed and diced (I used jarred hot and sweet banana peppers)

¼ cup diced green mango (optional … I substituted the watermelon here)

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup minced cilantro leaves for garnish (I mixed in some cilantro for taste)

Directions

1. Combine the first seven ingredients into a large bowl along with the mango (if using, or other ingredients as necessary);

2. Season to taste with salt and pepper;

3. Refrigerate to let all those varying tastes marry up;

4. Garnish with cilantro just before serving.

For recipe card click here.