Pico de Gallo

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