My hubby brought home fixings to make tacos tonight and I usually make my own salsa to go with, but was dismayed to find I didn’t have any usable tomatoes [I have grape tomatoes that are drying nicely, that I like to use in sauces- they're kind of like giant tomato raisins... somewhere between regular tomatoes and sun-dried]. I’ve used mango before as a substitute, and it was delicious, but all I had on hand were apples or grapes. I went with red seedless grapes and it came out fantastic!
Ingredients:
1 Small bunch of red seedless grapes, cut in half or quarters, depending on size
1 Large shallot, minced
1/4 Cup mix of jarred, sliced jalepeños and pepperoncino peppers, minced
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Drizzle of good, fruity olive oil – extra virgin
Drizzle of pepperoncino juice from jar
2 Tbsp chopped fresh Cilantro
1 Clove garlic, pressed through garlic press or finely minced
Method:
I usually chop up the onion or shallot first [whichever you have on hand], then put it in a bowl and squeeze the lime juice on to take a bit of the zing out. Then I chop up the rest and dump it all into the bowl, mix it up and hten drizzle on the olive oil to give it a nice shine and to round out the flavors. Use as much or as little of the hot stuff as you like and you can always use tomotoes, mango, red peppers, etc. instead of the grapes, but they were delicious and refreshing with the tacos. I also use greek yogurt instead of sour cream if I don’t have sour cream on hand.
Sometimes having to substitute for missing ingredients leads to an entirely new flavor experience. That’s why I love cooking so much. =) Enjoy!
