I have a soft spot for salsa, especially salsa fresca. Fruit is a lovely addition to the popular sauce, adding colour, sweetness, and complexity to the flavour. It’s one of my favourite summer snacks, but it can be enjoyed year round. Because the Ontario peach season is winding down, now is the time to grab some at Jean Talon and make a peach salsa fresca. The combination of sweet peaches and spicy jalapeno is very refreshing. The last time I made this for a group, half of it was gone before I got a chance to sit down. Use this recipe as a guide for ingredient ratios and mix it up with your favourite seasonal fruit. The next time I try something like this, I plan to use yellow heirloom tomatoes, kiwi, red onion, a red chilli, lemon juice, fresh oregano, and mint.

A note on the ingredients: when choosing your produce, aroma is key. I like the tomatoes on the vine, but in any case, pick tomatoes that are the most fragrant. If you aren’t at a market where you can take samples, go for the fruit that smells best since it will have  the most flavour.

Ingredients

2 medium red tomatoes

2 peaches

1 small or half of a medium/large white onion

1 jalapeno pepper

Juice of one lime

Handful of fresh cilantro, coriander, basil, or parsley

Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Dice your tomatoes and peaches into similarly sized pieces. The chunkiness of your salsa is entirely up to you, so dice accordingly.

2. Finely dice the onion.

3. If you like your salsa very spicy, dice the pepper with the seeds.  If you prefer mild salsa, take the seeds and membrane out of your pepper, discard them, and then dice the remaining pepper. Be sure to wash your hands immediately after chopping the pepper.

4. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and squeeze the lime juice into the bowl. Finely chop the cilantro.

5. Add salt and pepper and serve.