Someone once said to me: “I like that you put fruit in things”. That made me feel good. Just like I put fresh herbs in all my cocktails, I put fruit in a lot of my savoury dishes. Most fruits aren’t any sweeter than something like carrots (which are very sweet) and we already have adapted ourselves to using fruit like tomatoes or cucumbers in a myriad of non-dessert related dishes. They add a splash of incomparable freshness, colour and juiciness to many recipes and I wholeheartedly encourage you to start experimenting on your own – especially in the summer when you’ve hopefully got access to the best local produce.
I love tacos with a fiery passion. I love coming up with new vegan taco fillings. I love pineapple on tacos. I love homemade salsas, and usually make this mango-pineapple salsa whenever there’s a corn tortilla in sight. There are still local strawberries kicking about, so I decided to mix it up. Strawberries standing in made perfect sense to me – they’re sweet and a little tart just like pineapple. This particular salsa had a very rounded flavour, which was perfect for corn chips and on top of the jackfruit carnitas I made for a friend’s birthday. You can adjust the heat to be wherever you’d like it; we went mild for a friend who’s still learning to love the chili pepper.
Strawberry Salsa
Serves 4
Total time: 5 minutes
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped fine
1/2 ripe mango, peeled and diced (optional)
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1/2 small red onion, peeled and minced
1 jalapeno pepper, top removed, diced (Use more or less; discard the seeds if you’re concerned about heat)
Large handful fresh cilantro, chopped fine
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or the juice of one lime
Pinch of salt
Place all ingredients and a small mixing bowl and toss to combine. Before serving, taste for seasoning and adjust. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
