Fresh Tomato Salsa

Labor Day: That last hurrah before summer closes. Not that I'm ever particularly attached to summer, mind you; by the time September finally rolls around, I'm generally all-too ready for some pleasant fall weather (fall being my favorite season, but we needn't get into that here). However, I *am* always in support of getting a day off of work, and what better way to celebrate such a day than by having a few friends over with a large complement of snacks and grilled food?

This year being no exception, I had a strong craving for my favorite Mexican "dips": guacamole and, of course, salsa. I've never been terribly drawn to the salsas I've had made with cooked tomatoes, as I like the chunky fresh style. As such, I decided to see how easily I could put together a whole mess of it. As you may have guessed, it wasn't difficult, and yes, it was tasty. Now you may wonder exactly how much of a "recipe" there is to salsa, and I'm inclined to agree; that's why I simply referenced Simply Recipe's version for a basic shopping list before twisting things in my own way.

Fresh Tomato Salsa
(adapted from Simply Recipes)

Ingredients
5 Medium tomatoes (romas work great for this)
1 Red onion
3 Chiles (any type you desire)
3 Cloves of garlic, minced
1 Lime's worth of juice (about 1/3c)
1tbsp Olive oil
1/2c Chopped mint*
Salt to taste

*I use mint because I can't stand cilantro. Judge me if you will, but this actually turned out rather nice. Of course, purists will want to use cilantro instead. To each their own.

Procedure
1) Gather all your components together to make for quick and easy knife work.

Yes, I used 6 tomatoes. It was too many. Always use less than you think you'll need, as it's easier to add than remove them.

2) Dice all the vegetables to the size desired. Since individual tastes may vary, use your own judgement on the size of the chunks.

3) Add the olive oil, garlic, and lime juice and mix in a large bowl until well-blended. Add salt as desired, keeping in mind that the chips will probably also be salted.

Lessons Learned
You might think it's hard to ruin salsa. You're partially right; it's hard to completely destroy, but it's also rather hard (at least for me) to get *perfect*. This version was not it; I went heavy on the tomato and light on the spice. Next time, I'd reduce the tomato a bit and add another pepper (and probably use something stronger than jalapenos for spice). As a final modification, after it sat for a bit, the juice from the tomatoes came out and left a lovely puddle at the bottom for all the components to marinate in. Next time, I'd probably remove the juicy interior of the tomatoes and use just the fleshy components for texture and flavor. That probably also would've enhanced the strength of the spice, making for a better balance and more stability on the chip. Still, I ate the stuff, so it certainly wasn't all bad!

Onion Dip

Last weekend during the NFL draft, my roommate and I decided we needed a large quantity of junk food to properly celebrate the first real football-related action during the long drought that is known as the off-season. As part of this master plan, I determined to cobble together a mess of loose ingredients I had left over from various other projects into a functional dip. I've always enjoyed onion dip more than salsa or plain ranch, and since I had seen a recipe for it on TV recently, I decided to give it a shot.

Recipe stolen virtually unmodified from Good Eats.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
4-5 green onions, diced
1 shallot, diced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3-4 grinds of pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat a medium sautee pan on medium heat and add the oil. Once the oil is warmed, add the yellow onion, shallot, and 1/4tsp salt. Sweat the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until they are browned and soft (the linked recipe claims about 20 minutes; I left it for about 25 or so) and add the green onions. Sautee for another minute or two and remove from the heat to let the veggies cool. At this point, the onions should look like this:


While the onions cool, mix the sour cream and mayo in a mixing bowl until its thoroughly blended. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper and mix again until the ingredients are incorporated, as shown below:


Mix the onions into the cream/mayo bowl and stir with a spatula until the vegetables have been distributed. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to let the flavors meld properly. Make sure to stir the mixture again before serving, just to loosen things up a little. Serves more than two, in my experience, and goes well with potato chips, veggies, or other things you dip into stuff.