recipes: peach salsa

This past week I went to a speech and debate holiday party with all of my students and the other coaches. It was snowing like crazy outside, but a ton of people ending up making it to a really entertaining party. Everyone brought a dish and a gift for a round of white elephant. But to the main event, the food. Instead of dividing up the appetizers, entrees, and desserts by last name, as is usually done with potluck-type events, we did it by debate/speech event. So the LDers and Policy kids (if you did debate, you'll know what this means), and their coach (me) brought in appetizers. I really wanted to try something different and fun, so I looked around for some new recipes. I found this great peach salsa on Big Girls Small Kitchen. It is such a fun and different recipe that you can make to your own tastes, prepare super fast, and it's a nice way to spice up a chilly winter party. The citrusy-sweet-spicy taste really makes this recipe stand out.

Mint and Cilantro Peach Salsa

adapted from Big Girls Small Kitchen

Makes 4 cups, or 1 large bowl 

Ingredients:

 

4 cups of peeled peaches, in a quarter inch dice (I threw in some canned peaches to make up the difference since there are not a ton of good peaches around here this time of year)

3 tablespoons of chopped cilantro

3 tablespoons of chopped mint leaves 

juice of 1 lemon

a sprinkling (or a handful) of red chili flakes (vary amount depending upon how spicy you want it)

3 tablespoons of sugar

additional sugar to taste

Steps: 

1. Dice your peaches. Pretty self-explanatory. Also, the most laborious part of this recipe. Put them in a bowl!

2. Chop cilantro and mint leaves into a half-inch dice and add on top of peaches in bowl. 

3. Add the juice of the whole lemon. I squeezed it right in the bowl. Just make sure you don't get the seeds in the bowl. Ew!

4. Add the red chili flakes. A little bit does really go a long way, so add sparingly. Being a spicy food  addict, I put in quite a bit, but even a pinch adds a lot of flavor. 

5. Put in a little sweetness. You can add more later on if you would like it a little sweeter. 

6. Stir! And you're done! I would recommend tasting a bit so you can add more sugar or chili flakes to adjust. 

I think this will be a favorite at parties, as well as a great side to fish, tacos, or Tex-Mex dishes. I like to think my debaters enjoyed it, or at least they told me it was so that I wouldn't make them read awful articles on philosophy. By the end of the evening, I was also the proud owner of Mensa Mind Bender cards from the white elephant gift exchange. Now I can entertain myself and my cats over winter break!