Taste Life Blog

Brett was home one week and had cooked his salsa recipe two times.  I have experimented with many recipes and think his is really the easiest and does taste the best.

Salsa means tomatoes and tomatoes mean summer.  I am already excited to pick my first tomato.  This summer, we have seven tomato plants including one Topsy Turvey that yielded about 20 tomatoes last year. In a few weeks we will be picking our tomatoes and able to make Brett’s Salsa.

3 tomatoes, finely chopped
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1/4 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
Lime juice, 1/4 cup

Combine all ingredients and add lime juice to taste. For more zip you could add another jalapeno according to Brett. We found Gary sneaking and eating Brett’s second batch of salsa.

Tomatoes taste best at room temperature. Buy your tomatoes and store them at room temperature out of direct sunlight. Leave them on the counter to ripen as their flavor is very sensitive to the cold and does diminish when you refrigerate them.  If you need to ripen them quickly for your favorite recipe place them in a paper bag with a banana or apple. The fruit gives off an ethylene gas that speeds up the ripening process. If your tomatoes are ready but you are not ready to cook with them, place them in the warmest part of your fridge which is usually your butter compartment.

Tomatoes are rich in lycopene which protects your cells from heart disease and cancer. Dr. Edward Giovannucci with the Harvard School of Public Health reviewed 57 studies that showed the more tomatoes one ate, the lower the risk of cancer. The evidence was strongest for cancers of the prostrate, lung and stomach. Buy the reddest and darkest tomatoes available as these have more lycopene in them. Tomatoes are that are processed contain even more lycopene because cooking breaks down the cell walls and releasing and concentrating the caroteinoids.  The beautiful thing about tomatoes they add color and health to our diet and are low in calories. One cup of tomatoes is only 38 calories and 2 grams of fiber.