Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Wednesday, 2 March 2005 - A bowl of fresh homemade salsa

Dear God:

Today, I am thankful for a bowl of fresh homemade salsa.

While grocery shopping, I can't resist buying ingredients for homemade salsa, one of our favorite summer dishes. I usually make a triple X, super hot version - perfect for this week's meals that beg for a spicy relish.

I carefully select a large bouquet of fragrant cilantro, two thin-skinned lemons, a bunch of the freshest looking green onions, and a dozen ripe Roma tomatoes. Since the natural foods store doesn't sell jalapeno peppers, S buys six for me at the chain grocery store following his workout at World Gym.

I carefully wash all the ingredients before soaking them in a Prill water bath. After an hour or so, I drain the water and let the vegetables dry in a large colander.

Making salsa is easy but time consuming. If you don't like to chop and dice vegetables, then you're better off buying a ready-made variety. I like the prep work, taking my time with each vegetable, sharpening the knife as needed. I combine the tomatoes, onions, cilantro and jalapenos in a large glass bowl before adding lemon juice and salt to taste.

On this beautiful winter afternoon, S and I sit down to a bowl of fresh salsa and tortilla chips. I load a chip with a heaping scoop of bright red tomatoes speckled with bits of jalapeno, green onion and cilantro. The aroma is amazing and the taste, simply divine.

For this blessing, I am grateful.

Amen.

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