Thursday, August 2, 2012

Grape salsa

I've had peach salsa and pineapple salsa and mango salsa. The fruit takes the place of the tomatoes (which is botanically a fruit, but legally a vegetable) and adds that sweet-tart flavor that goes so well with the onions and peppers and the green-herbiness of the cilantro.

There are probably fruits that would not play nicely in a salsa. Bananas would probably be a bad idea. But grapes - hey, why not?

I recently wrote a post that was sponsored by the California Table Grapes Commission, and they're sponsoring a contest to create a snack using grapes. I decided to enter the contest.

I mean, why not?

I didn't need to blog about the recipe, just make it, take a photo, and submit the idea. But since I had the recipe made, I figured I might as well post it.

My first idea was grapes and a few other things skewered on those thin little pretzel sticks.

Sounds good, right? Sweet, salty. fruity, crunchy.

Not so much. The grapes were fine, but the pretzels got soggy really quickly, and instead of getting the crisp snap, it was more chewy-soggy.

Time to move on to Plan B. 

Salsa. With grapes.

And, dang, it was really good. I served it with chips and as a garnish on tacos. It would also be perfect on top of fish or chicken. It's light an summery and unusual. When you serve this, people will say they've never had anything like it before.

Grape Salsa

1/2 cup grapes (your choice - I used both green and red)
1/4 medium onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1 tablespoon cilantro, diced
Kernels from 1 ear cooked corn
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Cut the larger grapes in quarters, and the smaller ones in half. You can cut them a little smaller if you like.

Place the grapes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, corn and salt in a bowl. Stir to combine. Taste and add more salt, if needed. If you prefer more tartness, add more lime juice, as desired.

This is ready to serve as soon as it is mixed, or you can make it ahead and store it in the refrigerator until serving time.
Yum