MoFo: Homemade Summertime Salsa

This afternoon I made a big batch of salsa. It has been such a long time since I made my own salsa, and it feels like a very important summer milestone. I love fresh tomatoes so much, and I feel a moral obligation to enjoy as many as possible while they are available.

There are so many kinds of salsa in this world, but if I had to pick one, it would be pico de gallo. Many of the tacquerias around town offer a "salsa bar," with 3-4 different types of salsa and some pickled veggies to choose from. I always like green tomatillo salsa, and I like hot salsa, but I love pico de gallo. I love the bits of fresh tomatoes, the scraps of cilantro, and the way you can shovel on tons of it and not send yourself to the hospital from spicy-ness overload.

Lately though, a new salsa has snuck its way into my heart - the fresh corn salsa at Chipotle. It's full of corn and cilantro and isn't spicy at all. It's sort of like a corn version of pico de gallo.

So, in keeping with my MoFo ambition to be less cookbook-dependent this month (and maybe even be slightly creative!), I decided to make a pico-de-gallo + corn salsa combo! It is really good! I think the raw corn will be a new salsa standby for me - it adds a little crunch, a starchiness that balances the heat of the jalepeno (it was a really spicy one this time!), and a sweetness that goes well with the acidity of the rest of the mix.

I chopped some tomatoes, shucked one ear of raw corn, and then minced some white onion, jalepeno, garlic, and cilantro. Plus, copious lime juice and a dash of salt! Voila! Or rather, Ole!

Long time readers will know that our cat Yummers loves corn more than life itself. As soon as he hears me shucking the corn, he comes running to the kitchen - paws as high up toward the counter as he can reach, and starts meowing maniacally. So, naturally, he got some corn this time too.

update!

Here's my plan for the salsa: We're gonna have burritos later tonight:

In addition to the salsa, I've got some cashew dressing leftover; I sauteed up some summer squash, two red onions, garlic, and a ton of spinach; and I cooked up some refries, a can of "vegetarian taco filling" that I got in my Vegan Cuts snack box, some lime juice, ground cumin, and some of the salsa. Check me out! Going free-form! I hope it's good!