Vegivore Eats | Stone Fruit Salsa (by Julia)

The summer hand fruit selection is all about stone fruits: peaches, plums, nectarines, and apricots.  The markets are literally overflowing, and once I buy a pound of one thing or another I can barely keep up...the fruit ripens to juicy excess seemingly right before my eyes.

I'll admit, I get wary of fruits like these; raw and sitting in my hanging basket hoping to be snatched up for a quick snack.  It just never seems to happen for me.  Just is not my go-to.  I suppose that, once you've bitten into an overripe peach, mealy and tasting of bad wine -- it's hard to get back on that horse. Yet I can't just walk away from the mounds of beautiful fruit at farm stands and farmer's market.  So here we are.

Typically I resort to baking a buckle, crisp or some other sort of hot goodie with it, or slicing and freezing for later smoothie use.  The other day though, upon lugging home a bunch of Shiro plums and white nectarines from Kimball Fruit Farm (Pepperell, MA), I plunked the bags down on the counter and surveyed my tiny galley kitchen.  It was already in complete disarray from cooking for a client.  There was no way, after the day I'd had, that A) I was about to clean and disinfect that whole room, just to muck it up again with bowls and spatulas galore B) sweat with the oven on C) deal with the steps of making a freakin' buckle!

I settled on salsa.  Lovely, minimal effort (and dish-use), cool fruit salsa.  The colors and flavors of local nectarines and plums kicked up with the spice of hot pepper, the pop of citrus, cilantro and ginger, the pungent grounding of garlic and the hearty cold of a seedless cucumber.  Sweet heat, refreshing and tart.  This one's a keeper.

I'll admit, I don't measure when making my salsas (though I did put together a recipe below for those not like me).  I add and taste, add a bit more, taste, use what I have and not much else.  Bold flavors complement the simplicity of what's going on here -- and sweet potato chips from Food Should Taste Good (Needham, MA) just push the whole snack over the top.  At its best about an hour after you make it, this bowl of goodness is unusual, sunny, bountiful and hits all the high notes.

STONE FRUIT SALSA

serves just you, cuz you're not gonna wanna share

(just kidding, serves 3-4)

4 ripe plums, washed but unpeeled, pitted and cubed

4 ripe nectarines, washed but unpeeled, pitted and cubed

1/2 seedless cuke, julienne or dice (avo would work well, too)

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

2"-3" thumb of fresh ginger, peeled* and finely grated

1 clove garlic, minced

juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 serrano pepper, seeded and minced

2T cilantro, leaves only, minced

coarse salt and black pepper to taste

opt: sugar as needed if your fruit is too tart

Combine all ingredients.  

Let it macerate, covered, in the fridge for about an hour, then enjoy with chips, crusty bread (like a weirdo's bruschetta), or a spoon!

...

PRO TIP: Even though this column focuses on fresh, seasonal vegetarian dishes (hence, Vegivore Eats), I cannot resist telling you how amazing this stuff is with grilled chicken!

* PRO TIP: I'd been peeling my ginger with a peeler for too long.