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I was inspired to work on summer salsas this week, not just because of the heat wave that had begun to settle over Los Angeles, but also by a recipe called Tropical C Burst. It was created by the Los Angeles students Jenifer Mendez and Kimberly Sanchez for a national high school Cooking Up Change competition in Washington.
Cooking Up Change is a national healthy cooking competition that challenges teams of students to create menus that meet the national nutrition standards and budgetary restraints for school lunches. Mendez and Sanchez, both from Manual Arts High School, beat out students from other Los Angeles high schools for the chance to compete in Washington. They placed second over all.
Mendez and Sanchez’s recipe is served as a fruit cup and will be on the menu at Los Angeles schools during the next academic year. The reason it inspired me to make some fruit salsas is because they season their fruit with a little bit of chili powder and cayenne. I love the juiciness and sweetness of fruit against heat and pungency, so I decided to make some salsas with fruit and chiles. I worked with watermelon and with pineapple this week, as well as with mangoes.
Tomatoes being everywhere right now, I also worked on some salsas that didn’t include fruit. I played around with my salsa fresca, introducing a surprising ingredient – diced kohlrabi – that worked nicely. And I grilled tomatoes, chiles and corn for a complex salsa that I’ll be serving for the rest of the summer with tacos, chicken and fish.
Pineapple Avocado Salsa: A sweet, fruity flavor and a mix of textures set this salsa apart. It goes great with salmon or just about any other fish.
Roasted Corn and Tomato Salsa: Grilling tomatoes, jalapeños and corn makes for a nice mix of flavors. The sweetness of the corn contrasts well with the charred and picante flavors of the salsa.
Salsa Fresca with Kohlrabi: Kohlrabi, with its crisp texture, is a pleasant surprise diced into this tomato salsa. It goes well with chips, nachos, tacos and quesadillas, or with fish and chicken.
Grilled Mango Salsa: A mango’s rich flavor is deepened through grilling in this salsa full of contrasts. It also works if you do not want to grill the mango.
Watermelon and Tomato Salsa: Sweet, juicy watermelon and spicy chiles combine to create a surprising summer salsa with a kick. It goes especially well with grilled fish.