by Tammy Taylor
I’ve always said, “Plant in your veggie garden what you love to eat”. So go ahead, plant veggies that you’ll be excited to eat. It doesn’t do any good to plant the seeds and work hard all season to produce a crop that makes your family say, mehhhh….
Although I picked other veggies to add with our supper tonight, THIS is my favorite of the day’s samplings – not only the coveted first ripe home-grown tomatoes of the season but the makings of homemade fresh salsa tonight: Tomatoes, purple onion, garlic and jalapenos. Proof positive that you can eat your veggies and LOVE it!
Now folks, you don’t get any more fresh than straight from the garden! Although I assemble my pico/salsa the old fashioned way with a knife and cutting board, it still takes no time for the veggies to get chopped or minced and blissfully marinating in the fridge awaiting squeals of delight from the family. Now let’s be honest, any time you can get your family to get excited about eating their veggies it’s a good day, right?
I don’t really have a recipe per se,because I make it slightly different each time based on what I’m in the mood for and the output of the garden.
The beauty here is that you can add the veggies in the proportions you enjoy. Like it spicy? Add tons of jalapenos. Are you a garlic fiend? Throw in more garlic cloves. Do purple onions make you sing? Chop of a whole onion and throw it in there. As I’ve said many times before, if a recipe isn’t delicious, quick and ADAPTABLE it doesn’t last long here at the ranch.
Here’s the way to put it all together: Chop the tomatoes, jalapeno and onion in the proportion you enjoy and place in a bowl. Mince a clove or two of garlic and add it to the bowl as well. A quick squeeze of lime juice gives just the right zest. Sometimes I add a sprinkle of salt and if I have cilantro I’ll chop some of that and mix it in as well. After it’s all mixed together put the bowl in the fridge for an hour or more to meld the flavors. Ole’!
~TxH~
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YUM! Love that you added garlic to this! Oh, and yes, purple onions do make me sing 🙂 Thanks for linking up on Simply Natural Saturdays!
Garlic is a staple around the Taylor Household, Melissa. It adds a punch of flavor and it’s so healthy too. ~TMH~
I love a good salsa! I’d love to make some. You’ve reminded my I need to get off the computer and water tomatoes! Enjoy your week.
LOL Sherry – not much falls from the sky this time of year around here either. ~TMH~
We’re still waiting for our tomatoes to grow 🙁 Hopefully when they finally come in we can make some awesome salsa.
Yum! There’s nothing quite like garden fresh homemade salsa! We eat it as fast as we can make it around here, lol! Thanks for sharing at Simple Lives Thursday! 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing on Green Thumb Thursday – except that now I’m drooling! We hope you’ll join us this week http://homesteadlady.com/green-thumb-thursday-72414/!
LOVE homemade salsa! Great recipe! I appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday, Kathy
I love homemade salsa, especially from the garden. I am waiting for my tomatoes to get red and will definitely be making some!
Nothing quite like homemade straight from the garden, eh Elizabeth? ~TMR~
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe at my fabulous friday party! Love all your recipes that you share Hugs Maria
Nothing better than getting your hands dirty in growing and using your own veggies. I love quick and easy recipes like this. :} thank U. Can make to personal liking whether small or large batch and can add whatever trips your trigger and served with fried tortilla chips can also add……… 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon olive oil avocado, peeled and diced salt and freshly ground pepper
Exactly Colleen – you can customize your salsa into whatever you like. Sounds delish! ~TMR~
found you on the blog party, great post on the salsa. I love gardening, but have to take a break while my garden is under soil solariztion 🙁
Ugh, I know that’s got to be hard for you, but you’ll be so glad when you’re finally able to plant again! ~TMR~
I didn’t plant any tomatoes this summer, thinking it would be like any other summer and that they would just FRY in the North Texas heat. And what do you know…. it’s in the 60’s this morning and we’ve just had 3 inches of rain. Oh well! I know how you feel about blogging time, I’ve finally gotten back to the blog and will try to keep it up after I go back to work in a few weeks.
I know Judith – it almost made it to the 50’s this morning. In Texas. IN JULY! Crazy weather indeed. We got about 3.5″ as well – much-needed moisture around here. ~TMR~
Your salsa looks yummy. I love the chunkiness. Can’t wait to try your salsa receipe. Have you ever canned it? If so how did you do it? Thanks from one Texas girl to another!
Well howdy Sheryl! I’ve made & canned salsa before, but not this recipe. When canning salsa it’s super important to follow a canning recipe and not to increase the ratio of tomatoes to veggies as this can create an unsafe canning environment. This garden salsa is mixed up very casually and based on what’s going gangbusters in the garden. (usually with copious amounts of jalapeno since I like it spicy!) ~TMR~
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Love homemade salsa. It’s so much than the kind you can buy in a store. Thank you for linking at the In and Out of the Kitchen Link Party. Hope to see you again next week.
*it’s so much better than
It’s always a sweet pleasure to visit your blog! I love the notion of using what you have and going with what sounds good at the moment. And yes, if it get’s people excited about eating veggies – that’s a winner in my book too. Thanks for sharing the gorgeous veggies from your garden. Have a beautiful day!
What a sweet thing to say Karen – thank you! I agree, if you can get people excited about eating veggies – party on! ~TMR~
Without question, fresh made salsa is so much better than out of a plastic jar!
Can’t argue with ya there Linda! ~TMR~
This looks great! We love homemade salsa. Thank you for sharing this at the HomeAcre Hop! We’d love to have you drop by again tomorrow: http://wp.me/p2urYY-127
How delicious — I have never thought to put garlic in my fresh salsa, and it’s my favorite herb! Thanks for linking up to the Creative HomeAcre Hop, I hope you’ll join us again this week! Cheers, Andrea
Homemade Salsa!! That is a complete winner! Thanks for sharing with us at TTF this week. LInda
Beautiful picture of the veggies! I love fresh salsa! –Gena
I cook most of my food from scratch, but I’ve never made my own salsa. For some reason, peppers scare me. You’ve just about got me convinced to give it a try. I do know how much I love fresh salsa. I think it’s time for me to step out of my comfort zone………….
Christina, if you’re concerned about the salsa being too spicy you can tone down the heat on the peppers by removing the seeds and white membranes from the inside. Many people find it helpful to wear rubber gloves during this process to keep the pepper juice from their hands but with a thorough hand scrubbing with soap & water afterwards I’ve never had a problem myself. Give it a try! ~TMR~
I love homemade fresh salsa. We grow lots of tomatoes and peppers in our garden each year and much of it goes into salsa. Nice post! Visiting here from the Get Fit Friday blog hop.
I love homemade salsa! I’m a terrible gardener, but thankfully our local farmers market has a great selection of fresh veggies. My husband makes his special salsa recipe, jars it up and gives it out to our friends. A cute little mason jar of salsa makes a nice impromptu gift!
Absolutely Miki – people love homemade gifts. (And it’s really hard to go wrong with salsa!) ~TMR~
Hey there! Visiting you from the Friday Follow Along Party! I love love love your salsa from your OWN garden. I definitely followed you on Pinterest because I am pinning so many things about gardening because when we move to a house I definitely want to plant my own garden so I will need all the inspiration and tips I can get! Would love to have you link up at my Get Fit Friday Blog Hop that is happening today too. All things healthy living related and we definitely could use some recipe posts in the mix! Well, I hope you enjoy your weekend! Happy Friday! <3
Thanks for the invite Brittnei, I’ll ‘hop’ on over! ~TMR~
Homegrown tomatoes are one of my favorite things. And I love making salsa. Thank you for linking up at Wildrafting Wednesday.
I’ll be jumping into the world of vegetable gardening next year and I can’t wait for things like homemade salsa!!
Ashley, having my hand in the soil producing our food is just something that’s in my blood. I know you’ll be so excited to get your garden up & going next year. ~TMR~
We have two raised beds which we have 8 tomato plants and herbs. This year we also are trying to grow some onions and in the fall we are going to plant garlic.
I love my raised beds Bruce. And there’s just something about plucking that first ripe tomato of the season. 🙂 ~TMR~