Tomorrow’s the Super Bowl and this week I’ve been trying to post a few things that are tasty, easy and most of all cheap that you may wish to make for the big day. So, today it
‘s one of my favorites–Pico de Gallo or homemade fresh salsa.
Now I don’t know what your preferences are on the “Big Day” (Super Bowl Sunday) but some people like to pay rapt attention to the actual game, others are really into the commercials and Mrs. CB likes to flip over to Animal Planet for the “Puppy Bowl”. Whatever your preference, I’m guessing that food and snacks play a part.
You can get a jar of salsa at the grocery store for about $3 and it’s not bad. You can get it in the deli section a bit fresher for about the same amount. Or, you can be like me and make your own. That way it’s absolutely fresh–and fresh tasting and about half the cost–all you have to do is invest about 10 minutes into cutting up the ingredients. It’s just that simple.
Pico de Gallo is Spanish for “rooster’s beak” and the dish is also called “salsa fresca”. No matter what you call it, it’s good. Eat it with chips, put it on top of a taco or tostada or enchilada or any other dish (it’s even good on top of steak or chops). And, it’s healthy! What could be healthier than fresh vegetables made into a condiment? Here’s how to do it:
Fresh, Homemade Salsa (Pico de Gallo)
Ingredients:
- 4 Roma tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped white onion
- 1 jalapeno
- 1 orange—navel orValencia
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Salt, garlic powder and chipotle or cayenne
Directions:
This is really simple. Most of what you’re going to be doing is chopping and cutting so get out your cutting board and good knife along with the bowl for your salsa.
First though, take your jalapeno and roast it. You can use your grill, you can use a burner on your stove or you can put it in the oven at 450. It’s going to take 5 to 10 minutes. If you haven’t done this before, what you’re doing is putting a char on the outside of the pepper and you’re literally steaming it from the inside. When it’s done put it on a plate on top of a paper towel or napkin to cool. (And, by the way, if you don’t want to roast the jalapeno, just dice it up small and raw–it won’t be quite as hot this way either if you make sure that you remove the seeds and ribs).
Start dicing your ingredients and putting them in the bowl. You’re going to chop and juice the orange too. I love the flavor that the orange puts into the salsa along with the extra juice that’s both sweet and acidy. When you get all this into the bowl, add a healthy dose of salt—but don’t overdo it. One of the reasons for the salt is to pull the juices from the tomatoes and get the liquid mixed into your salsa.
Now, back to the jalapeno. When cooled, use the paper towel to rub the skin off the surface of the jalapeno. When it’s all peeled off, cut off the top and the cut the jalapeno lengthwise in half. Remove the membrane and seeds and toss them out (this is where the heat is, so you can leave them in if you want your pico de gallo hotter). Chop the jalapeno into about ¼ inch pieces and add to the bowl.
Now, taste your salsa! Add some garlic powder to taste and then add some chipotle or cayenne a little bit at a time until you get the right amount of heat. Then put it in the kitchen. Serve it later with tortilla chips or do what we did—we used it as a topping for tostadas tonight.
It’s that simple! Just pull some freshly made Pico de Gallo out of the fridge, dig out some tortilla chips, scoop up the salsa and enjoy! That’s what we did. And we like it spicy!
Cheap Bastid Test: This is really inexpensive, especially this time of year. The tomatoes cost about a dollar, the onion was about a quarter, the jalapeno was about a quarter and the orange about 35 cents. Less than 2 bucks! This made the equivalent of 2 jars of salsa. Those 2 jars would cost $6-$7 at the grocery store. And this is a lot fresher and a lot tastier!
That’s theCheap Bastid Way: Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!
