Backyard Garden + Recipe: Fresh Garden Salsa
By Katie Goodman
A salsa garden, consisting of cilantro, tomatoes, jalapenos, and onion, is a fun themed garden for the beginning gardener. If the thought of growing onions seems daunting, consider green onions. They are incredibly easy to start from seed, and if you trim them above the root instead of pulling them out of the ground, they will continue to produce all spring and summer.
We recently returned home from an 8-day trip to loads and loads of tomatoes ripe and ready to be picked: 64 yellow pear tomatoes, 60 grape tomatoes, 18 roma tomatoes, 8 Mr. Stripey tomatoes, 4 Better Boy tomatoes, and 6 Sungold cherry tomatoes.
Our jalapeno plant even had several offerings ready for picking, some of which had started to turn red.
We gave some away to friends, but kept quite a bit for ourselves to include in meals throughout the coming week. I used up several of the roma and Mr. Stripey tomatoes to make a fresh salsa. Fresh salsa is so colorful and packed with flavor. The fun thing about using the Mr. Stripey Tomatoes is that their flesh is a golden yellow, a beautiful contrast against the red tomatoes and green cilantro.
If you’re looking to preserve salsa, try this method (it doesn’t require a pressure cooker, but relies on creating the correct pH balance). Canning salsa is time-intensive, so recruit a friend to help you and enjoy spending the afternoon in the kitchen together.
For a chunky salsa, follow this recipe as is. If you’d prefer a restaurant style salsa, prepare all the ingredients according to the recipe, toss them in a food processor, and give it a few pulses. Since this is fresh salsa, store it in the refrigerator and use it up within a few days. You shouldn’t have a problem finishing it off. My husband was looking for excuses left and right to eat more of it. He mentioned the other day that he wasn’t hungry, but he made a quesadilla anyway because he wanted more salsa.
Fruit is a popular add-in for different salsa. If you’d like a sweet and spicy salsa, try adding in a cup of diced mango, peach, watermelon, or pineapple.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced
1–3 jalapenos, minced Adjust according to your heat preference. Seeding the jalapenos keeps it milder.
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup minced yellow onion
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cumin
Pinch of chili powder
Directions
Step 1: Wash the tomatoes. Dice the tomatoes. Mince the jalapenos.
Step 2: Remove the cilantro leaves from the stems and chop. Mince the onion and garlic.
Step 3: Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl, adding only 1 jalapeno at a time so you can taste test for heat. Store in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Try this fresh salsa on top of scrambled eggs with a sprinkle of feta cheese. Delicious!
Tip: To store leftover cilantro, trim the stems slightly and place in a cup with water. Cover the leaves with a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate.
About the Author:
Katie Goodman resides in New Mexico with her husband and two children (a 4-year-old boy and an 18-month-old girl). Learning in the kitchen, eating, trying new recipes, and sharing them with friends and loved ones are some of Katie’s favorite things to do. She wholeheartedly believes that part of the goodness in life is enjoying good food with good friends and family, and goodLife {eats} is a place for her to share what she finds good in the kitchen.
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