Salsa Love

I love salsa. In my estimation, a tortilla chip is merely a vehicle for more salsa.  Even if the basket of chips is totally full, I often find myself breaking chips into small pieces before dipping into the salsa bowl; anything to get more salsa on a chip.  

My trip to Mexico this week reminded me of how good really good, really fresh salsa is.  Meal after meal (breakfast included), I found myself surrounded with bowls of salsa--red, green, chipotle, and wow, was it amazing.  I even got the recipe for one of them (the waitress at our hotel spoke flawless Spanish as well as English with a disconcertingly thick Atlanta accent; she was very sweet and wrote one of my favorite recipes down for me), but that will have to wait until a later post so that I can take the time to try and perfect it first.

Making salsa is deceptively more difficult than it would appear given the simplicity of the ingredients.  The right blend of tomatoes, onions, and acid takes some perfecting; there should be tomatoes without being tomatoey, onions without being oniony, etc.  Last year I found a really good recipe that holds up to all of these criteria; this recipe is shared below. I've adapted the original recipe by adding red wine vinegar; I find this flavor adds some depth to the flavor of the resulting salsa.  I also think that letting it sit for an hour or two before serving allows the flavors to more fully mesh.  Enjoy!

Salsa Mexicana

Adapted from Bon Appetit

2 medium tomatoes, diced 

1 medium white onion, minced

2 jalapeño chiles (more if you like it spicier), diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

juice of 1/2 a lime 

dash of red wine vinegar

salt

Mix tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, and red wine vinegar in a bowl.  Season to taste with salt.  If you have the time, let sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving.