Pineapple Pico de Gallo
This past weekend I did not get my butt in gear early enough to beat the heat for my long run. Luckily I'm early in my training for a 55K in October, so 'long run' only meant ten miles. Not lucky was the 90 degree weather and full sun. Also not lucky was the nearby forest fire which made the air quality a wheezy kid's worst nightmare. I'm not sure if completing a trail run in those conditions is a credit to my stubbornness or a nod to my lack of self-preservation skills, but either way, I got the miles in.
I wish I could tell you that it was a cathartic experience and I learned all sorts of wonderful things about myself, but I did not. Instead, the entire time I fantasized about what I would get to eat when I was finished. I don't know if it was the tropical conditions or the sodium exiting my body via multiple sweat rivers, but the idea of pineapple salsa kept popping into my head. So, on the way home I offended a bunch of Whole Foods patrons by taking my hot mess of a post-run body to the produce aisle. Namaste indeed.
I love this recipe because it's a mix of sweet and spicy, and you're able to forego a tremendous amount of salt due to the other flavors already at play. You can use the ingredients in whatever capacity you want depending on if you prefer, sweet, savory, heat, garlic, etc. I usually end up pulling this out as a snack with some sort of chip or cracker, but it also goes really well on rice, salmon, chicken, or even on a salad.
Items required listed below--no directions needed as this is just a 'chop, mix, and let it sit!' recipe.
Items You'll Need:
One Fresh Pineapple, Peeled & cut into small chunks
Two serrano peppers, finely chopped (I keep the seeds to add heat, but remove them if you're not an asbestos mouth like me)
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, cored & chopped
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
Juice of two limes
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp garlic powder (You can also chop up two fresh cloves, but I actually find powder mixes the flavor through more evenly)
1/2 tbsp white or black pepper
Directions:
Like I said above, you really just need to chop, combine, then let everything sit for at least an hour in the fridge so the flavors mingle. I'm either a genius or really lazy so I put all the ingredients in a tupperware container, put the lid on, then shake it for a few minutes. Right after you combine everything I know it can be tempting to taste-test and adjust, but let the flavors come together before you do this. I find that the heat intensifies after about an hour so, consider yourself warned.
