Tomato Salsa

Tomato salsa from a jar is perfectly fine but it has been made in a process with lots of heat treatment meaning nutritionally it's not quite as good as fresh.  Tortilla chips and salsa feels like a treat, like something naughty but if you make it from fresh you have lime juice, tomatoes, peppers; all great sources of vitamin C, vitamin A, fibre (there is a massive amount of vitamin C in sweet peppers for example, more than citrus fruits.)

So effectively rather than having something with a sweet spicy sauce that's devoid of anything good, you're effectively having your tortilla chops with a fat free salad, except it doesn't feel that way and that's kind of cool.

I do have to apologise for my photo.  We are getting to that time of year that unless I cook and eat early in the evenings, I'm restricted to artificial light.  Boo hiss.  Not my favourite way to take photographs at all and always a compromise.  Still, I am sure this will become a new staple food so I will be making it again and photograph it during daylight hours when I have the chance.

This makes a ramekin full which was just right for me and the fresh flavour of it is better properly fresh.  If you do have any leftover, keep in the fridge, the next day, lay some tortilla chips out on an oven proof plate, top with the salsa and cheese and grill (keep a close eye) until the cheese has melted for some awesome nachos.

Fresh Tomato Salsa - Serves 1

Ingredients

2 Medium sized tomatoes
1/2 sweet pepper (red, yellow or orange, not green)
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp finely chopped onion
Juice of 1/2 lime
Pinch sugar
10-15 drops tabasco
Pinch salt
1 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro)
1 tbsp tomato ketchup

Method

Chop the tomatoes into a dice.  Finely dice the pepper and onion.  Very finely chop the garlic and chop the coriander.

Mix the chopped vegetables with the lime juice, sugar, tabasco, salt, coriander (cilantro) and ketchup.  Put in a dish and serve with tortilla chips.  Sit in front of TV and feel slightly less guilty than you would have had you just opened a jar of tomato salsa.