As is our habit when traveling, we found a small bar near the port of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and ordered local beer. It was accompanied by chips and salsa. The salsa was one of life’s more memorable foods. Unbelievably tasty! Just the right amount of spice for my palate. Perfect saltiness. The recipe below is the nearest approximation to that dish of perfection on that day at that place.

I have made this many times since that day in Puerto Vallarta. Last week when we went to pick up our grocery order, instead of a beefsteak tomato for use, sliced, on sandwiches, we had a 2 lb. locally-grown greenhouse tomato. What on earth was I going to do with that! It was a hard decision to chop it up, but it wouldn’t last forever, so a decision had to be made. Bye-bye monster tomater! Hello pico de gallo! I ended up using about 2/3 of it in the pico.

  • Ingredients
  • 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 3 jalapenos, seeded and sliced
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 4-5 Tbsp. lime juice or juice of two limes
  • Tortilla chips

Into a food processor, fitted with the S-blade, place chopped tomatoes, seeded and sliced jalapenos, chopped onion, minced garlic, chopped cilantro, salt, and lime juice. DO NOT OVER-PROCESS! Just give it a whirl, scrape down the sides, and give it another whirl. One more may be necessary, but DO NOT OVER-PROCESS! Starting with chopped vegetables will get you to the consistency you want without big chunks. If you like big chunks, then do it the way you want. I like to eat this outdoors at room temperature. Serve with tortilla chips. And cold beer.