Each time it’s rained in the past couple of weeks, I’ve thought to myself: that’s it for the tomatoes. Yet we are still getting enough days of warmish sun in between that I continue to happily pick red, yellow, and orange fruit from the garden vines.
I’ve noticed that these late-season tomatoes don’t seem to hold up quite as long as their peak-season counterparts. They’ve spent longer on vines, exposed to fluctuating temperatures and bouts of rain, and I’m finding that soft spots show up more quickly once they’re picked. Which, for me, translates to a need to either preserve or use a lot of tomatoes relatively quickly!
That was the impetus for this salsa. It’s incredibly simple, with beautiful ripe tomatoes the clear star. All you need is a little patience to chop everything finely—and some good tortilla chips for scooping.
Garden tomato salsa
4–5 ripe tomatoes, diced (I used 10 smaller ones from the garden)
1/4 c red onion, finely diced
handful of cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
optional: finely diced jalapeño, 1 clove minced garlic
Chop tomatoes and allow to drain in a fine-meshed strainer for about 10 minutes. Add all ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine. Let sit another 10 minutes for flavors to come together. Taste and adjust lime and salt before serving.
