This salsa is one of mine and my hubbies favourites - it is as cool and refreshing on a hot day as a glass of fresh-made lemonade (and I have an awesome recipe for lemonade coming up so stay tuned!)
Anyway - here is the list of ingredients (be warned - I am not an "exact" kind of person - I measure in "pinches" and "maybe a little more"):
And remember, whenever you follow someone else's recipes to adjust the ingredients to the way you would like it - if you are a garlic lover - add a few extra garlic than the recipe calls for - if you don't like a certain ingredient - leave it out or substitute it with another ingredient!
My Ingredients:
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
4-6 tomatoes
3-5 sweet onions
a bunch of parsley
a bunch of cilantro
2-3 teaspoons of pineapple juice
1 small orange (juice, pulp and rind will be used)
1 small lemon (juice and rind will be used)
1 small lime (juice will be used)
1 can of chopped green chilies
6-8 garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste
1 well-ripened mango
1 gorgeous husband in matching boxer shorts and t-shirt for sous-chef duties as needed
**Extra Tip: chop everything as fine as possible...the more fine everything is chopped, the better your salsa will be!**
I always start my salsa with a "base" - or at least what I call a base. Get yourself a big mixing bowl and add the olive oil...I don't measure it, I just dump 6-8 swirls around the bottom of the bowl. Sqeeze in the juice of half of the lime and add the pineapple juice. Like this:
Next, chop up the rind of the lemon and orange....like this:
and add it to your base:
Next, remove all of the white stringy stuff from the inside of your orange and chop it up and add it to your base. At this point, I throw in some salt and pepper.
Next - chop up your chilies (I use about 3/4 of a small can) and add it to your base.
(Note: when chopping up all of the ingredients, I use the same plastic cutting board and knife for all of the ingredients. Each ingredient you add to the cutting board, soaks up and catches all of the previous ingredients and ensures that you get all of the ingredients into the bowl. DO NOT do this when using recipes that call for meat ingredients!)
As you can see - the base is coming along nicely now.
Next up is garlic. MMMM - garlic is sooo good for you! I normally use regular garlic (and at the end of the summer use my own home-grown garlic!) but for this specific day - my hubby's friend from work brought us a bunch of wild garlic so I used it. (Wild garlic is a little like a cross between garlic and a green onion...and wild garlic is a little milder than regular garlic.) Anyway, I used 5 delicious bulbs - chop off the tops and bottoms, put them in your garlic press and add it to the base.
Next up is an ingredient that probably made you go "Huh?!?!" when reading the ingredients list - but let me assure you that no Kymberz Infamous and Sorta' Mediterranean Salsa can be without - Mango!!!
This one is a little bruised and has seen better days - but the pulp inside is very, very sweet and will add an amazing flavour to the salsa - come on - shake it off - Yes - we are going to put mango into the salsa - I promise you will be floored when you eat this!
So chop up your mango like this:
and add it to your base:
The base is sure starting to look good now eh? At this point, I stick my finger in the base and decide if it needs more chilies, garlic, lime, or salt and pepper...
Now get yourself a nice bunch of cilantro:
And chop it up:
And add it to your base:
Woops - fergot to mention that while you are preparing the base, the awesome-gorgeous husband (wearing matching boxer shorts and t-shirt with hole in it) is busy at another counter chopping the tomatoes and onions....
(I looove him soooo freaking much!!!)
Now - on to the parsley - follow same instructions as cilantro -
Chop it up:
And add it to the base - now is a good time for another taste test as the flavours should be starting to blend nicely:
Back to the gorgeous husband chopping tomatoes - set the tomatoes in a colander on top of a bowl or pot so that the tomatoe water/juice runs out into the bowl or pot...if you don't strain the tomatoes your salsa will be very watery! And don't forget to drink the bowl/pot of juice after the tomatoes have strained!
Here's some onions ready to go into the salsa now:
Add the tomatoes and onions to your base:
Mix it all up together and - MMMM - this is some really refreshing salsa!
Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours to give all of the flavours a chance to blend...
Serve it up with your favourite chips (Organic White Corn Chips are pictured) and enjoy! Trust me - after a hot day spent weeding in the garden - this is a refreshing and zesty lunch! Or its a great snack on a hot evening, sitting on your patio, waiting for the steaks to cook on the BBQ.
