This is a staple food for me.

I make at least a double batch a week when the ingredients are in season, it’s so good!

Simple but useful in eggs, tacos, as a dip for tortilla chips and on and on.

You can adjust ingredients to your taste, I like a little more spice so I use a tad more jalapeno pepper in mine.

Ingredients
8 Roma tomatoes
1 large white onion (you can use a couple of medium sized red onions here if you wish, I use whatever I have on hand)
3 medium jalapeno peppers
3 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 Lime, juiced
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro

Optional
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can Mexican corn, drained

Halve and remove the guts of the tomatoes, then dice into small pieces. Place into a good sized bowl.

Peel and dice the onion. I vary the size of the dice some so there are some larger pieces as well as small ones.

Halve and clean the jalapenos, I remove all the ribs and the seeds. Mince these into very small pieces.

Add the salt and lime juice. If you like a little more lime flavor, you can zest the skin of the lime.

Chop the cilantro finely and add to the bowl

Mix everything together well. This will be good to serve as-is. If you have a few hours, chill it in the refrigerator and the flavors will be even better together.

I like adding the beans and corn for a little more variety, and the Pico will go farther this way too.

Pico de Gallo, try to stop eating this with chips!

Pico de Gallo in Fried Potatoes.

Pico de Gallo with Tortilla Chips.

This is a dish I was first introduced to by Jeff Smith, aka The Frugal Gourmet.

The combination if spices makes for an interesting tasting entree.

Lebanese Roasted Stuffed Onions

Ingredients
4 or 5 very large yellow onions
1 pound ground lean lamb or beef
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, reserve some for garnish
1/2 cup long-grain rice, soaked in water for a 1/2 hour, then rinsed and drained
3 ripe tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons white wine or cider vinegar
3 pinches of sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup beef stock

Place the whole peeled onions in a pot, and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil and boil the onions for 10 minutes. Remove, drain, and allow the onions to cool so they are easier to handle.

Filling
Mix together the lamb or beef with the cinnamon, allspice, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, parsley, and rice. Mix well, and then add the tomatoes, Gently mix again, be careful not to squeeze the juice out of the tomatoes.

Assembly
Cut the top and the bottom from the cooked unpeeled onions. Slice into the onions by making a cup down the side of the onion that goes to the center of the onion. Remove the outer skin, and then, very carefully, remove the outer leaves.

Place a spoonful of the meat mixture into each onion leaf and roll like a sausage.

Add the stuffed leaves seam side down to a hot, pan coated with olive oil. Brown for about 2 minutes. Add the vinegar then sprinkle sugar over each of the onion leaves. Add some beef stock and simmer for about 20 minutes covered. Turn the onions about halfway through the cooking time.

Garnish with fresh parsley.

Tacos are among my favorite thing to eat. I mean, who doesn’t love a good taco?

This seasoning mix can be used for tacos, as well as most any other Mexican dish, enjoy!

Homemade taco seasoning mix, photo by Dave Emmons (click to enlarge)

Taco Seasoning Mix

Ingredients

4 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons flour
3 teaspoons kosher salt
3 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

Combine ingredients in a small container and shake to combine. I used a clean 1 pint cottage cheese container. Store for up to 1 month.

To use, break up a pound of ground beef in a wide skillet over medium heat. When the meat starts to sizzle, sprinkle a tablespoon or two over the meat and continue stirring.

As the moisture from the meat cooks out and simmers, it will be thickened by the flour.

Note, you can vary the amount of salt to your taste. I tried this with 4 teaspoons of salt an thought it was too much. You mileage may vary.