Salsa

• Lots of tomatoes — very ripe and even overripe ones are preferred
• A few cloves garlic, diced
• Enough chopped onion to cover the bottom of your frying pan
• Half a dozen small chili peppers (if you like your salsa spicy hot). Wear gloves to dice them. If you don’t wear gloves, make sure not to rub your eyes afterward! (Guess how I learned this…)
• Chopped yellow and green bell pepper (capsicum) These are mostly for color, and a bit of texture and flavor contrast.
• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 lime (lemon, if you can’t get lime)

Chop up all the tomatoes. All the chopping takes awhile, so turn on a good podcast to listen to while you chop.

Fry the onion, garlic, and chili in a little oil, until the onion just starts to brown. Then add about 3/4ths of the tomatoes. When bubbling starts, turn down the heat, so you don’t burn the sauce. Cook until the tomatoes disintegrate into a sauce, stirring and mashing occasionally.

When most of the tomatoes have disintegrated, add the remaining tomatoes. When boiling starts again, turn off the heat. Fold in the bell pepper and cilantro. The Idea here is that the bell pepper and cilantro will get cooked a little bit by the boiling-hot sauce, yet not get overcooked and lose their color and flavor.

Mix in the juice of one lime. If you can’t get lime, use lemon.

You’ve made a lot; so freeze some, or give it away.