Pico De Gallo

Pico de gallo is quick and easy to make at home, and it's fantastic made a few hours ahead of time. I often make it to go with tacos - today I made it with my chickpea tacos. This pico de gallo recipe isn't the most exact as far as measurements go, but I'll share some of my basic pico de gallo rules. :D


Ingredients:

• equal amount of tomatoes and white onions
• couple cloves of garlic
• a jalapeno or serrano
• a handful of cilantro - no stems!
• pinch of salt
• squeeze of lemon or lime

After eating at quite a few Mexican restaurants here in Oakland, and experimenting with making salsas and pico at home on my own, I've decided that having equal amounts of tomatoes and onions work the best. I also love sweeter tomatoes in this - I tend to use grape or cherry. :)

Make sure you're using a white onion - yellow onions are too mild and sweet.


Method:

1. Dice the onion finely.
2. Pierce the tomatoes with a sharp knife and squeeze out the seeds and excess juice.
3. Chop the tomatoes so they match the size of the onions.
4. Mince your garlic and pepper of choice.
5. Place everything in a bowl and mix in a generous pinch of salt.
6. Add lemon juice and chopped cilantro to taste.
7. Keep tasting and add until you love it!

I never add any crazy additional spices to mine - it's good as-is! I use lemon here instead of lime because I think the pico is sweet enough thanks to the tomatoes. The lemon adds a nice sour/sharp note. :) Just use whichever citrus you like more!

Also keep in mind that while it's best made in advance, the salt we added will cause lots of liquid to come out of the tomatoes and onions. You might want to drain it a little if you'll be using it on tacos.