Sweet Strawberry Salsa in the Summertime

A week or so ago I spoke of my family's homemade version of Salsa Fest, in which we sampled a variety of salsas. Most of these salsas made their way into our mouths via tortilla chips, the common vehicle for this delish dish. However, my dessert loving self thought, "Why stop at savory?" and carried the salsa fun into the dessert course!

When I found out that it was Salsa Fest and decided that I MUST have a salsa party of my own, I immediately paroozed the internet for some salsa inspiration.  I am not a huge lover of spicy foods (something I am currently working on building a tolerance for), so when I found this recipe by Michael Smith for a sweet version of this usually spicy condiment I thought, "I can handle this."

And who can't handle Sweet Strawberry Salsa? Served on vanilla ice cream. I know, I know, part of me thought that salsa on ice cream would be kind of weird... but so many things that you think would be weird turn out to be THE BEST THINGS EVER. (i.e. salted caramel, french toast+syrup+peanut butter, tea, sudoku)

So try it. And love it. And eat it outside because it is summer and that is what you do. 

I pretty much followed the recipe (with a small adaptation) but it would be neat to try it with other fruit either replacing or added along with the strawberries. Peaches, mangoes, kiwi... yum.

Sweet Strawberry Salsa in the Summertime

(I like alliteration...)

• 12 strawberries rinsed, hulled and chopped into pieces
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 2 tbsp chopped mint
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut (I used sweetened but unsweetened would be totally cool too)

Okay this is the hard part: Toss everything in a bowl.

DONE.

Serve it over vanilla ice cream, and be surprised at how great salsa can be as a dessert. You can count on me to find a way to turn anything into dessert form. As my big bro would say, are you a Mexican, or a Mexican't?

XO Lari

Salsa Fest: Our Version

IMPULSIVE DECISIONS! Are the best kind. Especially when they turn out to be awesome. On Sunday we had an impromptu Mexican Fiesta, which is something everybody needs to do.

So just this past weekend was the annual Sun and Salsa Festival in Calgary... something that I have never been to, but was hoping to attend this year. Alas, due to the fact that I have to earn money to pay for important things like cookbooks etc, I was unable to make it down to Salsa Fest.

No Fiesta is complete without
chill-pepper garland... obviously.

BUT I will NOT let that stop me from enjoying in my own Salsa-Inspired festivities! I marched to my parents and demanded a change in dinner plans.
To my great joy, they not only approved of my grand salsa plans, but offered to go out (right then) to buy groceries and to invite family over to join in the Partay. I love my family.

We made three kinds of salsa (four if you change the name of our classic guacamole to Tomato Avocado Salsa) and they were all delish. Served up with grilled chicken, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and a variety of chips... We had a winner of a dinner.

Black Bean & Corn Salsa
Grilled Pineapple Salsa
Avocado & Tomato Salsa

OH and of course I made dessert... duh.

And keeping with the theme (because themes are my thing), I made a Sweet Strawberry Salsa to use as a topping on vanilla ice cream. Which was totally different, and totally rad.

Also, my Aunt brought over a freshly baked Saskatoon Berry pie... with berries that were picked fresh from her backyard that very same day. You can't get any fresher, people.

Courtesy of The Amazing Aunt

I ask you, does that not look like a perfect pie?

The moral of this story is: If Lari cannot come to Salsa Fest, Lari makes the Salsa Fest come to her.

Enjoy having a salsa experiment of your own!
XO Larissa