Day 71

Rachel always says to use produce that is in season and, being summer (!), tomatoes are in season which inspired tonight’s post. It’s at this time of year that tomatoes are at their nicest. I love tomatoes and so does Dear Father. He grows them in his greenhouse and eats them like apples. Tomatoes are delicious and nutritious; they are also full of antioxidants such as lycopene which studies show help protect against certain types of cancer. Once bought, tomatoes should be stored in the fridge; however, as a consequence, they start to lose their flavour. I know – it’s a Catch 22.  I hate when I eat a store-bought sandwich and the tomatoes taste like the stainless steel fridge they were stored in.

I mentioned before that Rachel’s Tomato salsa is one of the nicest recipes (ever!) – which is the other reason why I chose to write about tomatoes and the salsa tonight. So here goes the recipe…

Ingredients

Tomatoes (I use a pack which is either 4 large ones or 6 smaller ones)
1 teaspoon of fresh coriander (but I probably use closer to a tablespoon of coriander)
1-2 cloves of garlic crushed
2 scallions
½-1 red chilli
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper
Juice of ¼-½ lime

Method

Obviously, wash and dry all the fresh ingredients first of all. Then chop the tomatoes. I absolutely hate the core of the tomato so the way I chop my tomatoes is that I half them on either side of the core then slice on the narrower sides of the tomato and then throw the core in the bin. So, once the tomatoes are chopped, I slice the scallions at an angle and throw them in a bowl with the tomatoes. Next, I add the crushed garlic, followed by the finely chopped chilli, a large pinch of sugar, some Maldon sea salt, pepper, the chopped coriander and then the lime juice. Mix it all together and that’s it.

You can eat this salsa in so many ways – on top of a baked potato, with tortilla chips, with fajitas or with another favourite of mine by Rachel - quesadillas. What I would say is that don’t make the salsa too much in advance – no more than an hour before serving as the tomatoes start to go mushy and definitely don’t use a mini-chopper (as I once did!) to chop the tomatoes or they end up too mushy, also! The salsa is especially nice when you accompany it with crème fraiche and homemade guacamole.

As I’ve said before, once you try this homemade salsa, you will never buy the jarred stuff that can be bought in the shops so apologies in advance – it takes a bit more effort than handing over your money to sales assistant but it’s so worth it…and so are you. Enjoy :)