Happy Cinco de Mayo! What a great day! An entire 24 hours when it's perfectly acceptable, hey, you're even encouraged to drink margaritas and consume way too many tacos, chips, guacamole and salsa! But with this fresh tomato salsa recipe, you'll only be indulging in healthy stuff, so you can literally stuff yourself with it and still have a clear conscience (I can't do anything about the margaritas and chips, guys!!) Plus this takes only minutes to whip up and is worlds beyond any store bought variety out there! If you're a salsa lover, you will die for this!!

And today you get two for the price of one because I'm also posting a a video that the good folks at Hooplaha have made, featuring my husband and I actually preparing my Long Lost Guacamole Dip together. Take a look and share a walk down memory lane with us!!

This salsa is chock full of so many great flavors and textures, chopped red pepper, jalapeno, red onion, lemon and lime juice and of course a boatload of fresh tomatoes!! It's so bright and fresh and full of springtime flavor and you can tailor it to your preference and make it as mild or spicy as you like it.

So whip up a batch of this wonderful fresh salsa, break open that bag of taco chips and have a truly delicious Cinco de Mayo!! Adios amigos!

Fresh Tomato Salsa (and a video too)

Makes about 6 cups

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients

• 7 medium tomatoes (I used beefsteak , cored and chopped

• One 14 1/2 ounce can chopped or diced tomatoes with juice

• One 4 1/2 ounce can mild green chile peppers, diced

• 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced

• 1 red onion, diced

• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Juice of 1 lime

• 1-2 teaspoons salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

The Recipe

1.  Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix together well. Taste and add more seasonings if you like your salsa spicier. Serve immediately or chill for 3-4 days in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Note:  Recipe adapted from The Foster's Market Cookbook by Sara Foster. I swapped out the 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro and added the parsley instead because no one in my house really loves cilantro and I omitted the 2 teaspoons ground cumin entirely. I also cut the salt down by half and lowered the amounts of black pepper and red pepper flakes. If you like your salsa spicier just add more of these.