What's On the Side: Pineapple Salsa

Brighten up your taco night with this recipe for a sweet and savory Pineapple Salsa. 

Salsa is one of my favorite condiments. Of course, it's an ideal partner for tortilla chips, but it also makes for a delicious accompaniment to scrambled eggs, brats, or breakfast burritos. Salsa is also a great way to add a little pizazz to a boring chicken entree.

While I tend to go for the simple combination of tomatoes, peppers, onion, and cilantro in pico de gallo, the other day I opted to branch out for a sweeter version and made some pineapple salsa from scratch. The result is a delightfully sweet – yet spicy – salsa that can add just the right amount of sweet and savory flavor to any dish. While I scooped up plenty of the salsa with tortilla chips for a snack, it also made its way onto fish tacos we ate for dinner – yum!

Pineapple Salsa (printer-friendly version)
makes about 2 cups

1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 small jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1. In medium serving bowl, stir together all of the ingredients. Serve immediately, or chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

(lightly adapted from this Betty Crocker recipe)

Made From Scratch: Pico de Gallo

Don't let the season end without making a batch of fresh pico de gallo from summer's last harvest. 

The official arrival of autumn is just two days away, and while I am a major fan of the fall season, I do shed a tear at the loss of all of summer's wonderful fresh and local produce. I'm looking at you in particular, delicious ripe tomatoes.

Before the season comes to an end, I am celebrating all things fresh and tasty with a batch of pico de gallo. Also known as salsa fresco, pico de gallo is a type of fresh, uncooked salsa. It invariably contains chopped tomatoes and onions, cilantro, fresh chiles, lime juice, and salt. It typically has a chunkier and drier consistency than other types of salsa.

This pico de gallo pairs nicely with tortilla chips as an appetizer or as a condiment with tacos. It is fairly mild in flavor, though you can play with the spice level by adding in more chopped jalapeño or subbing in hotter peppers.

Pico de Gallo (printer-friendly version)
makes about 3 cups

5 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, chopped fine
1 jalapeño, deribbed and deseeded
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
pinch sea salt

1. Place the chopped red onion in a bowl of cold water and let soak for at least five minutes. Doing so will help remove the "bite" from the onion flavor.
2. In a serving bowl, combine the chopped tomatoes, red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro. Add the lime juice and salt and toss to combine. Season with additional salt if necessary.
3. The pico de gallo can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to three days.

What's On the Side: Fresh Salsa

So. Many. Tomatoes. Have I mentioned that we are currently experiencing an explosion of ripe tomatoes in our garden? Yes, I think I have ...

As is the nature of a garden, more and more tomatoes are ripening every day. We currently have two buckets of tomatoes on our hands, with more to come. I'm currently desperately pinning (and searching for) tomato recipes to try. Of course, we could do some canning, and I'm sure we'll can some tomatoes before the season is out. I initially was planning to make a huge batch of salsa to can this past weekend, but I couldn't quite find the motivation to head to the grocery store to pick up the additional peppers and onions that I didn't have on hand.

Our friends invited us over for dinner on Saturday night, so I figured the best way to use up a huge pile of tomatoes (or, okay, at least make a dent in said pile) was to make up a batch of fresh salsa to share. This worked especially well as I did happen to have an onion, green pepper, 1/2 a red pepper, some cilantro, and a jalapeño pepper on hand.

This recipe is pretty forgiving, so do play around with the proportions. For example, if you don't have a giant pile of tomatoes on hand, you can simply decrease the proportions of all the other ingredients to match. Also, full disclosure, D kind of complained about the amount of onion in the salsa (it didn't bother me), so if you aren't a huge onion fan, go ahead and cut down on the amount you use.

Fresh Salsa (printer-friendly version)
makes about 6 cups

5 cups chopped tomatoes (6-8 tomatoes, depending on size)
1 cup chopped white onions (about 1/2 large onion)
1/2 cup chopped red pepper (1/2 red pepper)
1 jalapeño, seeded, deribbed, and chopped fine
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste if necessary
juice of 1 fresh lime
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. In a large serving bowl, stir together the chopped tomatoes, chopped onion, chopped red pepper, and chopped jalapeño. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt. Let sit for a few minutes, then drain off some of the accumulated liquid.
2. Stir in the fresh lemon juice and chopped cilantro. Season to taste with pepper and additional salt, if desired.

3. Serve with tortilla chips. 

What's On the Side: Cowboy Caviar

The day after returning from vacation is just the pits, isn't it? Particularly when said day is a Monday and there's no time to breathe before the work week begins anew. I just returned from a super-rejuvenating trip to Mexico with some of my dearest friends, and I am not quite ready to leave vacation mode behind. Particularly when, for the past five days, the most taxing decision I had to make was choosing which fruity cocktail to order next from the attentive waitstaff at our all-inclusive beach resort.

Our vacation was quite the relaxing affair -- most days were spent lounging on the beach catching rays (or seeking out the shade, as I am wont to do), reading books, gossiping, and catching up on our daily lives. I love that, even though we only see each other about once a year, we always pick right up where we left off without skipping a beat.

As is our typical modus operandi, much of our time was spent eating and drinking (in part fueled in this case by our resort's endless access to food and drinks). I made it my daily goal to eat guacamole and fresh salsa with every meal, and I think I nearly did so. Now that I've returned to the Northwoods, I'm not quite ready to let all those fresh Mexican flavors go. Luckily, I recently made a batch of the amusingly-named cowboy caviar, and it features all the flavors I've been indulging in over the past few days. My favorite way to prepare it is to add in some cubed avocado just before serving. Pile this flavorful "caviar" on a tortilla chip, and I'm back on my way to vacationland. This time, thankfully, without all that sand in my shorts.

Cowboy Caviar (printer-friendly version)

makes about 6-8 servings

For the corn and bean mixture:

1 15-ounce can no-salt-added yellow and white corn, drained

1 can low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 heaping cup chopped fresh cilantro

5 green onions, sliced (white and green parts)

1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, diced, seeds removed

1 or 2 avocados, cubed 

For the dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 cloves minced garlic

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon chili powder

1. In a large bowl, stir together the corn, black beans, chopped cilantro, sliced green onions, and diced cherry tomatoes.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder. Pour the dressing over the bean mixture and stir to combine.
3. Cover and chill for at least one hour before serving to allow the flavors time to meld together. Stir in the cubed avocado just before serving.
4. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

(adapted from this Braised Anatomy recipe)

What's On the Side: Fresh Mango-Tomato Salsa

Sometimes, all you need for a meal to be special is to make just one portion of it from scratch. Sure, there are a million varieties of bottled salsa available at the grocery store, but given that all it takes to put together a salsa is just a bit of chopping and mincing, why not make a batch from scratch instead?

Last week, our friends invited us over for grilled fish tacos and among the sides was a bowl of mango-tomato salsa. The flavor was amazing (I love the combination of sweetness with spice), and I couldn't wait to re-create the salsa at home. Since I neglected to ask for the recipe, I took to the Internet and found one that looked pretty similar. I made a few tweaks here and there (as I am always wont to do), and, after just a few minutes of chopping (and a little fridge time to allow all the flavors to meld together), voila, the fresh salsa was ready to eat.

Fresh Mango-Tomato Salsa (printer-friendly version)
makes about 1 cup

1/2 cup chopped fresh mango
1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes (seeds removed)
1 teaspoon finely minced habanero chile (I removed the seeds, you can leave a few (or a lot) if you prefer more spiciness)
1 tablespoon finely minced red onion
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon raw sugar
1 tablespoon roughly-chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a bowl, stir together the chopped mango, chopped tomatoes, minced habanero, and minced red onion. Add in the lime juice, apple cider vinegar, and sugar and stir to combine. Stir in the cilantro.
2. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes prior to serving.

(adapted from this Food & Wine recipe)

What's For Dinner: Double-Bean Breakfast Burrito

Let's take a break from all the Yosemite-love for a little dinner recipe, shall we? While on vacay in California I had one of my favorite breakfast treats -- a breakfast burrito. These breakfast entrees always have the tendency to be huge and I never seem to manage to eat a whole one in a single sitting. But, man, are they good! And, it goes without saying, quite filling! Oh, and more thing -- they taste just as good at dinnertime as they do at breakfast.

Double-Bean Breakfast Burrito (printer-friendly version)
serves one

2 eggs, scrambled
salt and pepper, to taste
refried beans
pinto beans, heated
salsa
shredded cheese
flour tortilla

So, this isn't so much a recipe as just fairly-simple instructions for constructing a breakfast burrito. This particular double-bean burrito includes pinto beans in two forms -- refried and whole beans. I went the easy route and used canned beans for both...one of these days I'll have to try and refry my own. This refried bean recipe looks like a pretty easy one to try. To make my burritos, I warmed the flour tortilla in a skillet, then added a thin layer of refried beans. Next, in the center of the tortilla, I added the scrambled eggs (seasoned with salt and pepper), a couple spoonfuls of pinto beans, another couple spoonfuls of salsa, and a healthy handful of shredded cheese. To roll the burrito, first fold in both sides, then carefully roll it up from the bottom. (Alternately, fold in both sides, then kind of smoosh the remaining two sides together while flipping it over. -- This seems to be my preferred technique.) I served my burrito alongside a green salad dressed with salsa and some tortilla chip fragments (what can I say, I love a little crunch on my salad!) -- taco-seasoned rice would also make a great accompaniment.

Snacktime: Simple Guacamole

My truly simple "guacamole" recipe involves just scooping the avocado flesh out of its shell, placing it in a bowl, and roughly mashing it up. However, when I proposed a snack of guacamole to D this evening, he suggested I take it up a notch. So, I amped up this guacamole with the usual culprits: salt, pepper, garlic, lime juice, and just a smidge of salsa.

Simple Guacamole (printer-friendly version)
makes enough for two

1 ripe avocado, pit removed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
juice from 1/2 a lime
1 tablespoon salsa
1 clove garlic, finely minced

1. Use a spoon to scoop the flesh of the avocado into a bowl.
2. Add in the salt, pepper, lime juice, salsa, and minced garlic.
3. Stir to combine. I prefer my guacamole to be a little chunky, so I stir more with the side of a spoon to cut up the avocado into small pieces.
4. Serve immediately.