It’s that time again.

You’ve spent four months squatting in the soil, weeding, watering and delicately touching each and every leaf of each and every plant in your garden. You’ve been waiting patiently for it to produce something, anything and then— SHAZAM!— it all ripens at once.

You have so much that you’re not sure how best to use it all. 

Well, here’s a salsa recipe for you that’s spicy and sweet, chunky and smooth, delicious and simple.

“ Serve with your go-to brand of nacho chips, and wait while your taste buds process the pandemonium of flavour happening in your mouth.

Ingredients:

1 kilogram of tomatoes (a few big ones), cut in half
1 peach, cut in half and pitted
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 large onion, diced
1 or 2 hot peppers, seeded and diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
handful of cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
dash of cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

On medium-high heat, place tomatoes and peach, along with a few cups of water in a skillet. When softened (a few minutes), strain tomatoes and peach and run under cold water. Discard skins. Chop the tomatoes and peach into chunks.

Heat oil in skillet, and add chopped green pepper, hot peppers, onions and garlic. Sautee for 1 or 2 minutes. Add cilantro, and the chopped tomatoes and peach. Stir, until everything is heated thoroughly. Then add salt, lemon or lime juice, and cumin.

Simmer over the heat until desired consistency is reached (10 minutes or so).

Pour salsa into jars or containers.

Once cooled, serve with your go-to brand of nacho chips, and wait while your taste buds process the pandemonium of flavour happening in your mouth.

Published in Volume 67, Number 2 of The Uniter (September 12, 2012)