Pico De Gallo

Ingredients:

Five plum (Roma) tomatoes (firm, not soft)
1/2 large or 1 small onion
3 jalapeno peppers
cilantro
lime juice
and salt

These quantities are approximate; you might need to increase or decrease the numbers, depending on the size of the vegetables you find.

Begin by cutting the ends off the jalapenos and chopping them into a small dice.

Throw ‘em in a bowl, seeds and all. If you’re nervous about spiciness, you could decrease this amount at first, adding more later if you think you can handle it. Or, you can scrape the seeds from the jalapenos and discard them, as that’s where a lot of the heat resides.

Now begin dicing the tomatoes. First cut them lengthwise into thin wedges. Then rotate the wedges 90 degrees and slice them into a fine dice. Then throw ‘em into the bowl with the jalapenos and stir.

Now it’s time to dice the onions. First turn the peeled onion on its side and make vertical slices. Then rotate the onion 90 degrees and slice downward to dice. And throw it on top of the jalapenos and tomatoes.

Now chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Don’t be stingy here! You can cut off the long stems before you start, but there’s no need to peel the leaves from the stems. Chop until it’s relatively fine, but not minced. Throw it into the bowl with the other yummy ingredients.

Then squeeze half of a small lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste. A couple of shakes should suffice. Stir together.