The other night I really wanted some tortilla chips but there was no salsa anywhere to be found. Anyone who is anyone knows that tortilla chips are just not eaten without salsa and cheese only can lead to digestive disasters (TMI?). Just to give everyone a look into my life, what I did find in the fridge was six bottles of ketchup. SIX BOTTLES. With varying amounts of ketchup in them. And not a single jar of salsa. Since I really needed something to occupy me while watching the cheesiest/worst of ABC Family dramas (read: Switched at Birth and The Lying Games – don’t judge), I decided to make my own. And no, I didn’t use any ketchup for it but I did include some pineapple and damn it was good.
I ended up remaking this salsa two days two days in a row, which is pretty normal when I get obsessed with a food. I ended up using it as a dip, mixing it with my rice at lunch the next day, and pouring it over fish and pasta for dinner the next day. It’s easy, versatile and cheap so it’s a win win win all around especially if you like things hot.
What you’ll need:
- 3 tomatoes
- 1/2 an onion, medium
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 cup parsley (or just as much as you’d like)
- 2 green onions
- 1/2 lemon (or just use some lemon juice)
- Chili paste/powder or actual chili peppers (I use an extra hot mix that my dad made out of chilis from our garden. It’s actually deadly.)
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- Paprika, garlic powder (optional, you just need a little)
- Pineapple chunks (optional)
Instructions:
- Chop up the tomatoes, dice up the onions, crush the garlic, chop the parsley. Mix everything in a bowl with your choice of chili.
- At this point, you’ll need to crush things up. I use a pestle but you can probably use anything other than your hands. Just make sure you’re not softening everything too much, you want to still have chunks!
- Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper, paprika, garlic powder and whatever other seasoning you’ve decided to use.
The dish at the top of this post is super easy to make too! You just need your choice of trout or salmon and some spaghetti or even quinoa. I used quinoa for my gluten-free boyfriend and he loved it!
Add a little bit of olive oil to a pan. Set to medium heat and place the fish in the pan with some salsa. Cover and let it simmer. Meanwhile, have the pasta or quinoa cooking. When everything is cooked and ready, add some of the cold salsa juice and let it soak into the pasta/quinoa. Eat and enjoy!
And of course, no post is complete without some lunch! I’ve also started packing breakfasts which seems to help a LOT with the 4pm hunger pangs.
- Breakfast: hardboiled egg, olives, cheese, a little bit of pita bread and some basil leaves
- Snacks: Pineapple with mint (mixed this in to my rice and merguez and it was really good!), blueberries, radish, and some cajun seasoned peanuts
- Lunch: Tortilla chips, salsa, merguez with pinenuts, and some vegetable fried rice
