Garden Salsa

This was the first year I've had enough extra tomatoes to both give them away and make salsa. Exciting!  I decided to just use what I already had in my garden so this is bit more like a bruschetta topping than a salsa I guess.  There's no heat in it.  But it's sooo yummy that I really didn't care.  I may or may not have gotten out of bed and stood in the kitchen at midnight eating this with a spoon.

I happen to prefer my salsas to be chunky monkey.  But if you like yours to be more like they serve in restaurants, simply run half or all of it through a blender or food processor.  And like many things, this is best served the next day after the flavors have had time to meld together.

Also, if cooking/doing things in a kitchen intimidates you, a salsa is a good place to start.  I get a lot of comments and emails about how you can't cook.  Well in this case, you don't have to cook anything.  You can mix and match ingredients.  And there is little effort involved.  If you like a little heat, add one jalapeno, seeds removed.  If you like a lot, don't remove the seeds.  If you like a hint, use just half.  If you like the hot and sweet combo (my personal fav), add both the jalapeno and either an orange or a peach or a mango.  If your cilantro grew well this year, add it.  If yours did not (like me!), add whatever did grow well.  Again, it's so forgiving that you really can use whatever you have on hand.

My only other note is to not omit the salt.  That is a pet peeve of mine, when people omit salt from healthy homemade recipes because they are trying to cut back.  Cut back on processed foods and potato chips.  Not on a dash of salt in a garden salsa. 

My Basic Garden Salsa

Ingredients:
* 6 large tomatoes
* 1 medium onion or a handful of scallions (because that's what I had on hand)
* a few basil leaves
* salt and pepper to taste (be generous)

Directions:
* Core and chop the tomatoes as large or small as you like them.  Add to bowl. 
* Cut white and green parts of scallions or onion.  I use kitchen scissors to chop scallions.  Add to bowl.
* Cut up any herbs you want to add.  In my case I added some basil.  Add to bowl.
* Add fresh pepper and kosher salt to taste.  You will need more than you might think.
* You can serve immediately but it is going to be better they next day after sitting in the fridge overnight.