Salsa, Salsa, Salsa!

Confessions of a Chef's Wife by Mia

I hate to tell you this but my husband is a chef, a real bonafide make-your-living-by-creating-food-for-people chef.

The good thing is that that I am the official taste-tester in the house (oh darn!) but the bad thing is that when he cooks, he uses every single pot, pan, bowl and utensil in the kitchen. The mess is staggering by the end of the day. However, due to our wedding vows, I am responsible for cleaning said mess every day without complaint. Here's how it went fifteen years ago:

I, H---, promise to cook every day for my wife and our family, to season every dish just right and to cater to her whims when she gets any craving whatsoever (I wrote those!).

Here are mine. I, Mia, promise to clean the mess made by H---- and his cooking, to love every dish and to make sure he never runs out of cumin, coriander, saffron, garlic and turmeric (he wrote these!).

Sometimes during hot, hot weather, I luck out on the dishes because we're not too hungry and we only want something simple. That's when we break out the chips and salsa.

Here's the confession...salsa is so easy, nobody ever really needs a recipe. Start with tomatoes and onions and the rest is up to you.

For us, we throw a bunch of tomatoes, onions, garlic, sea salt and cilantro in a food processor. Blend only a little because chunky salsa makes more of a meal. Add lime to taste. Make a vat of it because once you start eating, you don't want to stop to make more.

If you pick up Trader Joe's black bean and corn tortilla chips, it's a perfect meal. But wait! Brew up some sun tea earlier in the day and you have a light and refreshing dinner that you can follow with watermelon or berries.

One final note...we make our sun tea with mostly green tea bags and one black tea bag. No lemon, no sugar, just straight tea. Hope you enjoy!