My first successful recipe

When I was younger I was a bit of an adventurer in the kitchen-- to the point where my family never really was able to finish a full serving of something I cooked. To this day when the words "Ginger Chicken" are mentioned around my immediate family they are met with chuckles and the occasional snort of laughter. I failed miserably at that recipe because of my tendency to cook by feel and not by recipe. (I was 12.) I have since learned to taste as I went along, and adjust accordingly.

My first real success in the kitchen came when I learned to make homemade salsa. Not a difficult recipe to be sure, but one that relied on getting the ratios and proportions correct for the taste to come out right. I bought the ingredients, and sat at the kitchen table and chopped, mixed, and experimented away.

The beauty of this recipe is that you don't have to use the same ingredients every time, and you can tailor it to your personal tastes. My absolute requirements whenever I make salsa is that I have to use cilantro, and a couple squirts of lime juice. For you it may be different, but this is my go-to formula.

Salsa

2 Roma Tomatoes (This is a personal thing--I like the texture of roma's the best.)

1 bunch of Cilantro

1 Jalepeno Pepper

1 Red Onion

1 Lime or Lime juice

I chop everything by hand and mix it together-- tasting as I go. You can toss eveything in a food processor, I just like the chunkier texture hand-cutting creates. Generally I don't add the entire pepper or onion, and a small handful of leaves from the cilantro bunch. The lime juice is

what I add last, and the proportion of tomatoes to red onion is roughly 2 to 1.

Once you are comfortable with the ratios of the basic recipe, you can experiment with changing the ingredients, or adding new flavors. Personally, I like to add mangoes and red pepper. You can also experiment with heat through adding different peppers such as serrano or cayenne peppers--or if your daring, try a habenero. The pictures I've added are from my most recent batch where I added mango, red pepper, and I substituted cherry peppers instead of tomatoes.

Cherry Tomatoes

Finished blend, pre-mixed.