[CH] Joys of summer
Steve.Taylor@alltel.com
Mon, 31 Aug 1998 08:09:56 -0500
Life's simple pleasures can be some of the best. I walk to the small
garden plot in the back yard and pick three or four vine-ripened tomatoes.
Peruse the pepper plants to see what looks best for today's harvest--maybe
some cayennes, jalapenos, orange habaneros, or beautiful hot red cherry
peppers. Pluck a sweet bell pepper or a few crunchy banana peppers. Stop
by the pot of herbs and pluck some cilantro or basil before heading back in
to the kitchen.
I dice a medium yellow onion, dice the tomatoes and peppers, mince the
herbs, squeeze in the juice of at least one lemon or a couple of limes,
crush some fresh garlic cloves, salt the concoction well, and breathe the
spicy, citrusy vapors. While I rinse the cutting board, the vegetable
juices in the bowl mingle with the fruit juice and salt (my wife says this
juice is the best part).
The goal is a chile burn right at the edge of your tolerance, where your
nose runs and you feel a good warm spot deep inside you, but you can still
taste each element. Open a bag of tortilla chips or warm some flour or
corn tortillas.
We make this simple salsa as an appetizer often this time of year. And
almost as often, it turns out to be the whole dinner because we can't stop
eating and burning and sniffing and tasting the hot, salty, lemony, crunchy
salsa until the last drop has been drained from the bowl with a satisfied
sigh....
--steve