Pico de Gallo

Josh subbing in for Leah today. I just got a call from her Tracfone–the only cell phone device we have, just for emergencies–and while she was out the AC vent started smoking in our Nissan Versa. It’s a car trouble day so Leah asked me to jump on and post a recipe.

We made this last night so I figured it’s time to share it. This beats almost anything you can get in restaurants, too.

Pico de Gallo

Pico de gallo is a fresh, chunky salsa, consisting of four key basic ingredients: tomatoes, onion, some form of pepper, and cilantro. It goes great on tortilla chips but also can be used to stuff burritos and tacos or also eaten plain like a salad.

To make the perfect pico, you really need this kitchen instrument: The Chop Wizard. While a knife or a Pampered Chef food chopper would work, you’re not going to get the amazingly uniform small pieces that you get with this chopper. It isn’t hard to clean–using the cleaning tool you can clean it up in 2-3 minutes tops.

Now for the other ingredients:

6 ripe on-the-vine tomatoes, deseeded and cut into quarters
1 large red onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch rings
1 fresh banana pepper
1 Tbs jarred jalapeno slices
1/2 bunch cilantro, minced
2 radishes, cut into 1/2 inch round pieces
1 tsp juice from jarred jalapenos
Secret ingredient: 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt

Save for thyme and cilantro, process everything through Chop Wizard, or mince into 1/4 inch square pieces with a good knife. Place in a bowl and add minced cilantro and fresh thyme. Add juice from jalapeno jar and dry seasonings. Stir very well, cover with a lid, and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.

While you can leave the fresh thyme (never used dried) out, this really makes the salsa and turns it into something exceptional. The radishes also give it an extra crunch.

If you like it hotter, add more jarred jalapenos. You can also use fresh but I like the pickled taste the jarred variety bring to the dish.

– Josh

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

4 Responses

  1. Neicee says:

    Wow Thanks Josh..I have that chop wizard and love it! My kids are getting them for christmas because they love the Bruscetta I make and how quickly I make it.. I am going to try your pico de gallo recipie…I vary my slightly with juice of a fresh lime. But yours sounds amazing with the radish and fresh thyme

  2. Josh Day says:

    Hi Neicee,

    I totally forgot lime juice! That is a KEY ingredient to pico, and almost every fresh salsa. I usually add about half a lime of juice, but Leah is not the biggest fan of citrus so I've been leaving it out.

    Another ingredient I sometimes add is a bit of cucumber, peeled, and deseeded. Only a small bit, say, 2 or 3 inch cut, sliced in half and then chop wizarded. This is great in cool, fruit-based picos too.

  3. Peggy says:

    What a good husband you are for posting on Leah.

    Bonus points for you. Double points for cooking!

  4. Ooh! Yeah! Sounds yummy. Must look into the chop wizard thing.

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