Pico De Gallo(copycat Recipe Chipotle Inspired)

This is a super simple copycat recipe (inspired from Chipotle and similar restaurants). There are very few ingredients and anyone can make this delicious salsa.

• Ingredients 8 fresh roma tomatoes diced into cubes
• 1/2 red onion finely chopped
• A handful of finely chopped cilantro(about 1/4 cup)
• 1 Garlic clove finely diced
• 1 Jalapeno seeded(or leave seeds for spice)
• 2 ripe limes squeezed

Personally I use Roma tomatoes purely because they are the easiest to use. They aren't too big like Better Boy or Big Beef tomatoes. They are also super easy to cut into nice little cubes. Now with this being said feel free to use whatever you have. Sometimes we have cherry tomatoes and we'll just cut those into fourths. It's a little more work but those work just as well. I cut the Romas into about 1/4 inch cubes and sometimes get carried away and make them too big.

White onion is perfectly fine to use in this recipe but I tend to find that red onion has slightly more flavor and is a bit stronger. Typically I chop up half of a red onion for pico. You can use the other half in tacos or whatever your dinner may be.

Theres not much to this step besides making sure you pick up a good bundle of cilantro. Be aware that the longer cilantro it is in the refrigerator the less flavor is has. A handful of it will do that's usually about 1/4 of a cup when it's chopped up. This is one of the ingredients that you can add more or less to taste.

Usually I use 1/2 or 1 jalapeño seeded. If you like yours spicy feel free to leave the seeds in or add more. Fresh jalapeños are usually much more spicy. You can also use any similar pepper you'd like such as Serrano or Anaheim.

Be careful with the garlic you can overdue it with this one. One clove of garlic is usually just the right amount. Garlic can sit in the spice cabinet for a very long time don't worry too much about it going bad. A whole bulb will store for up to 6 months just fine. Once your break open the bulb only pull out one clove. In doing this the others will store for longer. Finely dice the garlic so that it fully saturates the rest of the ingredients.

You can actually use lime juice but I tend to get fresh limes. Two usually will do it just fine.

The order in which you mix them all together doesn't really effect the overall taste. I start with the tomatoes as a base and pour the rest on top and mix. Usually I first cut up the tomatoes and put them in the bowl right away so that you don't lose any of the tomato juice which is key to this salsa. Squeezing the lime juice, salting, and peppering is usually my last step. Salt to taste and add just a pinch of pepper to balance out all of the ingredients.

This makes plenty for a family dinner and goes perfect with any Mexican style dinner. I encourage you to put your own twist to it like add pineapple and lime zest, or black beans and corn. I hope many of you try this amazing salsa.