Farmers’ markets bring out the best in people. Maybe it was the weather, I don’t know. It was one of those perfect August days: zero humidity (a rarity for coastal New England summers), zero clouds in the sky, mid 80’s… People move slower when content.
Drifting from stall to stall, we serpentined through the crowd, stopping to point out a particularly interesting vegetable or chat with an enterprising proprietor. 30 second interactions with queued patrons flowed naturally, yet mutual acknowledgement of its transience was a given. No one made a fuss about it. Intrigued by a slight ruddiness and tinge of dirt on the hands, I envied the farmers. Was that flicker in the eye that of joie de vivre or a salesman in a less-than-sporty attire? I was happy to keep it a mystery.
The goal was to find something to accompany our platoon of ripe tomatoes, recently harvested from our urban garden experiment. I was thinking SALSA!!! Which inevitably means I’d be on the hunt for a variety of peppers, onions… oh, and the garlic, gotta’ have the garlic.
By no means are we culinary maestros, but Ms. Insisting Simplicity and I are consistently making some surprisingly tasty dishes these days. More importantly, we’ve gained enough confidence to explore a bit outside of recipes, follow instinct more and just enjoy it. Ok, back to the salsa:
Ingredients:
4x ripe tomatoes –> $0 (garden)
1x green pepper –> $ 0.50
1x red onion –> $ 0.50
1x garlic clove –> $ 1
2x chili peppers –> $0.10
1x habanero pepper –> $0.05
Total –> $2.15
Directions:
Dice, throw in a bowl. Season to taste with lime juice, olive oil, salt/pepper, maybe some cayenne for heat or some cumin. Add parsley, cilantro, chive for some added green color. Put your mark on it with these small touches, but be careful not to overdo. A dash of cumin goes a long way for example!
Now… where ‘dem tortilla chips?
