I miss summer. I miss my flowers, my garden and most especially our homegrown tomatoes. I am starting to be sick of winter and all that comes with it. EVERY mosquito in my yard should be dead by now. And we are ready to camp, wear short sleeved shirts and grill outside again! Winter needs to go away quietly, but for some reason this year it's wetter, colder, and more miserable than we ever remember!
I don't think it's because I'm getting old. I do however think it's because like so many of us this year our winter in the south, north, east and west has been the most brutal we can imagine. My heating bill attest to it and we've burned more fires in our fireplace than in the past! My husband said the other night he had built his last fire in the fireplace....Kyle and I think differently!
I had a few minutes to blog tonight and found a post of my summer tomatoes where I had posted the pictures above and below with the intent of posting the recipe some day soon. Oh, how it made me ready for summer and this Pico de Galo! Honestly though, this tomato side dish can be made anytime of year. In Texas it's made year round in Mexican restaurants to go on the side of fajitas (beef skirt steak with bell peppers and onions served steaming hot on hot flour tortillas) or as a type of chunky salsa to dip your chips in (fried corn tortilla chips).
The recipe pretty much follows what I have included below, but you can make variations by adding guacamole, sweet banana or bell peppers. We love lots of lemon or lime juice in ours and I especially love using my Persian limes from my pot off my back porch. And that makes me realize that I didn't think about how much I missed my fresh limes!
Pico de Galo will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and I have been known to add more tomatoes to it to keep it going bringing it out at dinner each night. This dish isn't just for Mexican food and is great with just about anything be it summer, winter, spring or fall.
The Ranch Kitchen's Pico de Galo
8 tomatoes, chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
1 sweet white onion or red onion, chopped fine
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine (optional)
1 sweet banana pepper, chopped fine
1 bunch cilantro, chopped fine
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped fine (seeding takes our some of the heat)
1 lime or lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Cut up tomatoes, onions, bell and sweet peppers, cilantro and jalapeno pepper. You use the food processor for the peppers on the pulse button to get my vegetables to the right consistency. I don't suggest pulsing the tomatoes in the food processor as they may get too mushy. I like my tomatoes firm for my Pico. Add all seasoning and taste. If you need more lemon or lime juice, garlic salt or pepper, just add it to your own liking.
Looking at this picture from last summer really makes me wish for
summer and our garden tomatoes!
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