Apology to Tomatoes and Making Pico De Gallo

Not everyone grows up with a taste and appreciation for juicy tomatoes. Up until a few years ago, I treated tomatoes as an invasion to my dinner plate. No matter why they were there, I would flick, pick, and poke tomatoes out of my food. The seeds were just as much of an intruder. I could handle salsa, if I used my tortilla chip to dig around and only come up with juice and a few speckles of peppers.

BLTs? Loved them! But hold the tomato. 

I’m not sure what happened but I think it had to do with Jason being a vegetable lover. (He doesn’t read my blog so he’ll never know I’m admitting he introduced me to something good.) If I recall, I also don’t think I cooked with onions until I met him 11 years ago. I’m sorry, tomato! I was really missing out by not using your juicy flesh in my cooking. You are now welcome to sit on top of my burgers anytime.

Now it’s all peppers, tomatoes, and onions on deck when I make pico de gallo. I know, I know. My hand is touching a tomato. And I still don’t use the seeds.

Once I started liking tomatoes, it seemed like such a pain to cut them up. I was using a chef’s knife. Uh, hello serrated knife! Who knew? Yah, Jason did.

Use kitchen gloves when cutting peppers. If you don’t, your hands and any other body part you touch will feel like a fire pit for an excruciating eight hours.

I’ve never really figured out if there’s a right way to cut cilantro. I just wash it and start chopping/mushing. I don’t use the stems. It’s a texture thing.

You can make pico de gallo with any of your favorite vegetables. Leave out the cilantro if you don’t like it. Jalapeños too spicy for you? Use only bell peppers. Not a fan of onions? Who says you need it in your pico?

What is a food that you like now but you didn’t used to?

Sweet wishes,