Fresh Summer Salsa -- The Taste of Summer Distilled Into a Bowl

I closed on a beautiful home in Westchase this week. The buyers — a young couple, first-timers — looked at the keys the way I looked at my real estate license in 2012: like they were holding the future in their hands.

Sophia is researching dental schools with an intensity that would concern me if it were directed at anything other than dentistry. She talked about it at dinner for twenty minutes and I understood approximately half of it but all of the joy behind it.

Some weeks are ordinary. This was an ordinary week. I sold houses. I cooked dinner. I called Mama. I drove to Tarpon Springs on Sunday. The extraordinary thing about ordinary weeks is that they are the ones you miss most when they are gone.

I made a watermelon and feta salad with fresh mint and olive oil. Sweet, salty, refreshing — the taste of summer distilled into a bowl. The kitchen smelled like olive oil and the coming rain and I thought: this is what survives. Not the money or the stress or the arguments about phyllo. The food survives. The recipes survive. The love baked into every dish survives.

The house was quiet this evening. I sat at the kitchen table with a glass of wine and the remains of dinner and I thought about all the tables I have sat at — Mama's table in Tarpon Springs, the table in the South Tampa house I lost, the table in the apartment where I started over, this table where I have fed my children for years. Every table is a different chapter. The food connects them all.

That watermelon and feta salad reminded me, again, that the best summer food asks almost nothing of you — just fresh ingredients and a little attention. I’ve been making this Fresh Summer Salsa on the same principle: bright colors, honest flavors, nothing hidden. It belongs on the table on exactly the kind of quiet evening I described, next to a glass of wine and whatever is left of dinner, connecting you to the season the way only simple food can.

Fresh Summer Salsa

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (about 4 medium tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin (optional)

Instructions

1. Dice the tomatoes. Halve, seed, and dice the tomatoes into roughly 1/4-inch pieces. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl.
2. Add the aromatics. Add the diced red onion, minced jalapeño, and minced garlic to the bowl with the tomatoes.
3. Finish with herbs and acid. Add the chopped cilantro, lime juice, and olive oil. Stir gently to combine.
4. Season. Add salt, pepper, and cumin if using. Taste and adjust seasoning — a little more lime juice brightens it, a little more salt pulls the flavors together.
5. Rest before serving. Let the salsa sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before serving so the flavors can meld. Serve with tortilla chips, grilled fish, or alongside simply cooked chicken.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 28 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Carbs: 3g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 120mg