Salsa!

I was never a huge fan of Mexican food until I had a friend of mine’s grandmother’s cooking. In college, when she came to visit my friend, she would sometimes have a bunch of us over and cook. They would also invite me over for different occasions such as thanksgiving or just to spend some part of the summer with them. They always spoiled me. I am pretty sure I gained several pounds every time I visited, even if I was with them for just a weekend.

I kind of started referring to her as my Mexican grandmother because she is awesome and I felt like a part of the family every time I visited. She always made the most authentic and delicious Mexican food I had ever had. I would help out in the kitchen and (apart from taste everything) learn how to make different Mexican dishes. She showed me how to make arroz con pollo, fidello, tortillas, tamales, refried beans, salsa and other dishes. It was always a blast spending time with them.

Now don’t ask me if I remember how to make all of these dishes, it’s been a while. I will need to refresh my memory. But one thing that I used to make a lot was salsa. It had been years since I made salsa but I was craving nachos and was reminded of her salsa. I have a document where I collect recipes I developed or got from people so I checked among these recipes to see if I had written down how she made her salsa. I realized that I had only put ingredients and no measurements 😐 Which makes sense because no one really measures, but don’t worry, I figured out some measurements for you guys!

This is a classic salsa recipe. Very easy to make, very fresh and very delicious. AND it is free of any random ingredients or preservatives like the store bought kind. You can blend it for more of a restaurant style salsa but I prefer mine chunky. I started off with 1/4 cup of jalapeños but wasn’t satisfied with the heat level so I kept on adding and adding jalapeños. If you are not into super spicy food, start with less. If you are into super spicy food, you might even want more because mine wasn’t all that spicy. I think the problem was my jalapeños though. You can also just leave the seeds in, that will increase the spiciness. If you cannot handle any heat at all, go with a quarter cup green bell peppers instead. Ok, here is the short and simple recipe.

Salsa

• 3 cups tomatoes
• 1 cup red onions
• 1/4 to 1 cup jalapeños (see paragraph above)
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• Juice from 1/2 a lime
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Salt to taste

Method

Finely chop tomatoes, onion, jalapeños and cilantro then put in a large bowl. Squeeze in lime juice, add cumin and salt. Mix and taste for salt, lime juice and spiciness then adjust accordingly. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!