Growing up I didn’t eat a lot of fresh salsa, it wasn’t that I didn’t like – it’s just that it wasn’t around much. The salsa that I knew, was dark red and roasted, sometimes green; in big bowls laid out next to taquerias or at family gatherings. It was hot; sometimes a little bitter and every bowl you came across was completely different than the last. Quien hizo este? You’d ask. “Who made this?” – you knew who made the best of the bunch – that’s the bowl you’d crowd. 

Moving on.

It wasn’t until a little later that I discovered the beauty that is fresh salsa. In California, where I’m from, we called it ‘Salsa Fresca’. Pico De Gallo was something completely different. I’ve seen it referred to as Salsa Bandera (which totally sounds the most bad-ass of the bunch) or Salsa Mexicana. Let’s just call it delicious.

The beauty of this recipe is in its simplicity; it’s neither cooked nor fussy and can be made fairly quickly. It is essentially: Chop Ingredients | Add Spices | Mix in a bowl. 

Each ingredient can be minimized or maximized according to your taste. I like raw onion but I don’t love it so I don’t add much in my salsa. Cilantro on the other hand – sometimes I go overboard. So, the recipe below is nothing more than a template to work from.  

NOTES: I add garlic powder (fresh garlic can be fickle sometimes – and bitter) and a splash of red wine vinegar to give the acidity in the salsa a little punch. But that’s just me. ALSO: I chop my tomatoes then salt them before I do anything else. Salting them helps draws out some of the moisture and I think the end result is better.

Here’s how I make it. Feel free to mess around with it. 

Salsa Fresca

4 Roma Tomatoes – Seeded and diced.
1/4 medium onion – peeled and finely diced
1/4 cup chopped (packed) cilantro
1 – 2 Jalapenos – seeded and diced