Pico de Gallo: Easy, Healthy, Mexican Food

En la Cocina with Casa de Lulu

Here in the cocina, we are mixing up a batch of delicious Pico de Gallo today.  We are BIG fans of Mexican food and often prefer to make it rather than run down to the local taqueria.   Mexican food, especially in California, is fresh, delicious and actually very nutritious if you make your own.  We make tacos about  once a week with different fillings and always have fresh pico de gallo or salsa to top it off.  There seems to be some confusion about the difference between to the two, especially in the supermarket.  Salsa is actually sauce and the ingredients are cooked, (or rather roasted), for a smoky spicy flavor.  Pico de gallo is fresh, and can vary depending on the seasons and what you have on hand.

So here's a basic recipe that's easy to make and delicious to eat.  All the ingredients can be found in any store- super simple.

For 3 generous cups of pico de gallo, you will need:

3 medium ripe tomatoes

2 tbsp minced red or white onion (not yellow!)

½ cup chopped cucumber

½ cup chopped radishes

2 tbsp of minced pickled (in the can) jalapeños

¼ cup minced scallions (optional)

¼ chopped cilantro

Juice of one lime

¼ tsp of granulated garlic powder*

1 tsp kosher salt**

Fresh ground pepper

First, take the minced onion and let it soak in water for about 5 minutes- this greatly reduces its potency and allows the flavor to marry well with the other ingredients.  Place all ingredients in a bowl, then add juice and salt and pepper.  That's it!  Es muy facil, no?

*Heads up all you Twilight fans- notice I add garlic powder not fresh garlic to this recipe.  This is up to you.  I find that fresh garlic is just too potent and overpowers the other flavors.  So if you want to hang out with that pretty boy vampire and knock down some margaritas, you'll want to go easy on the garlic,  okay?

**Be careful about adding too much salt to this recipe- if you plan on eating this with chips, there's already plenty of salt on them and you don't want to sully the flavor too much.

Here's some variations of the basic recipe that I've tried:

• With beef tacos, I add oregano and lemon juice instead of lime
• With lamb, I add fresh mint and orange juice
• With fish, I add some mashed up avocados and chopped red cabbage