Pico de Gallo

When I first met my wife, Marci, in graduate school, I courted her with food. I made everything from pesto to potato knishes, and omelets with beautiful fruit salads in the morning. I also made pico de gallo, a Mexican fresh salsa with chopped tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and hot peppers. Well, actually, she made the pico de gallo…and I stole it.

At the time, I didn’t even like tomatoes. But I did like salsa – the stuff that comes out of a jar, because to me, cooked tomatoes were acceptable.

In those early days, Marci made pico de gallo to serve with tortilla chips, and I guess I thought I could make it better. Arrogant me. I have a vague memory of chopping the vegetables finely, and then adding V8 juice. It must have been awful. But Marci let it be, and made it a few more times before stopping completely as I “improved” upon her recipe.

Over time, my recipe evolved to what it is today. I no longer add V8 or any other tomato juice, and it is especially good in late summer when we have tomatoes, which I now love, in part, because of pico de gallo, vine-ripened outside the kitchen window in the garden.

While I sometimes make it as an appetizer to serve with tortilla chips, now I usually make it when we are having tacos, because my daughter is a girl obsessed (with grilled skirt steak tacos), and my son loves chicken tacos. While there are many salsas worthy of putting on tacos, the vibrant, fresh flavors of pico de gallo make it particularly enticing.

Pico de Gallo

This fresh tomato salsa is especially tasty with tortilla chips in late summer as a simple meal when I don’t really feel like making tacos, eating too much, or turning on a hot stove. To make it a bit more substantial, I may throw in a little grated cheese – mild queso blanco or even mozzarella are perfect.

The seeds and white membrane inside the jalapeño are the hottest part.  For spicier food, add them. If the diners veer toward the less spicy side, remove the seeds and membrane before chopping the pepper.  And don’t forget that handwashing is critical after handling any hot peppers; touching an eye by mistake would be painful.

Some people are not big fans of raw onion. Finely chopping it (and the hot pepper) make it so no one bites into a large chunk, and soaking it in water for a few minutes goes a long way to reducing its bite. I sometimes only put a little in the salsa; instead, I keep a bowl of finely chopped raw onion on the side for people to add at will.

One note: This salsa can be juicy. To make it with a little less liquid, either drain the tomatoes in a fine mesh sieve after chopping, or cut the tomatoes in half along the equator and gently squeeze them to remove the seeds and pulp, along with a lot of the liquid.

10 minutes, about 2 cups

¼ of a large, sweet onion, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

½ of a fresh jalapeño (or to taste), finely chopped, seeds and membrane removed, if desired

½ bunch cilantro, finely chopped

juice of ½ to 1 lime

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1. Finely chop the onion and soak it in a small bowl of water for a few minutes, then drain. This will remove some of its bite.
2. Remove the juice of the tomato using one of the methods described above, if desired, then chop it.
3. Mix the tomato, drained onion, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, and salt and pepper in a bowl.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings. It can be made spicier by adding more jalapeño, or it may need more salt or lime juice.

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