Salsa Mexicana

Sometimes, you just want something basic. Stripped down. Familiar.

The Great Salsa Book doesn't disappoint -- if you want to make a salsa that will fit a lot of people's idea of what a salsa is, this here is your recipe:

Salsa Mexicana

2 tablespoons finely diced white onion
8 Roma tomatoes (about 1 pound), diced
2 serrano chiles, finely diced, with seeds
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Place the onion in a strainer, rinse with hot water, and drain. Thoroughly combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add a little more sugar if the tomatoes are acidic, but make sure the salsa does not taste of sugar. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to combine.

Serving suggestions: An all-purpose salsa; especially good with tortilla chips or grilled meats.
Yield: About 2 cups.
Heat: 4.

A-yup.

This is salsa. This is load-it-up-on-your-chip, wrap-it-in-with-your-taco, smother-your-burrito-with-it salsa. It's simple. It's straight-forward. And it's damned tasty.

It really is.

This is actually the first recipe I ever made from this book by myself. I borrowed it from Chefly Husband (back when he was Pseudo-Ex-Boyfriend...we've a long history), and made a double batch of this to take to a barbeque. It was delightful! Went with everything, fed tons of people, was cheap as chips to make, and looked impressive.

If you've never made your own salsa, start with this recipe. It will give you confidence (and yumminess) (and lots of lycopene).

I'm flagging this as both fruit and vegetable; you can choose to think of the tomato either way; I count it as both, because I have yet to have to make a living as a botanical taxonomist.