The freshest, most simple salsa recipe—pico de gallo (some also call it Salsa Bandera because, you know, red-green-white are the colors on the Mexican flag). I’m no flag waver of any kind, but I do love the tasty simplicity of this mix: Tomato, onion, chile, cilantro and lime. It brings so many dishes to life—a bowl of frijol de la olla (just fresh cooked beans in its own broth), a quesadilla, pretty much any taco or tostada, oh and nopales and verdolagas! And of course, all of the above-mentioned dishes look and taste great with a sprinkle of microgreens. There’s nothing like the raw goodness of this rainbow of fresh fruits and veggies to keep you healthy. The raw onion alone has so many medicinal properties!

So, here’s the basic recipe for a good-sized batch. Proportions can definitely be adjusted to your personal preference—

Ingredients:

1 lb tomato, diced (any kind will do! This could be roughly 1 large tomato, or 3 roma tomatoes or 1 dozen cherry tomatoes)

1 onion, diced (white is most traditional, but yellow, red or green onions could work, too!)

1 to 3 jalapeño or serrano chiles, finely chopped (you decide how spicy)

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped (I love it, but if you got someone with that weird cilantro-tastes-like-soap gene, you can leave it out or substitute with a handful of fresh oregano, maybe even parsley but that’s a big step away from Mexico and into Greece, I think!)

1 to 2 limes or lemon (the more you put, the better it keeps)

salt to taste

This fresh salsa has the best texture if eaten that same day but will keep just fine for a couple of days in the fridge.