Pico de Gallo

My husband competes in BBQ competitions here in Tennessee and in my home state of Georgia.  Because he has a competition coming up in Thomaston, Georgia in April, he decided to do a little practicing now.  The local Kroger's grocery store claimed to have beef briskets, but, when he got them home and opened them, he had 6 huge pieces of flank steak.  I won't go into the details of trying to return this meat.  It ended with us having two new briskets and 12 pieces of this flank steak.  After reading creative ways to cook this steak (and giving some of it to our church's secretary), he decided to marinate and grill it to create fajitas.  Well, what is a fajita without a good helping of pico de gallo?!?!?!  I was now on a quest to create a small portion of pico de gallo that would compliment my honey and teriyaki marinated steak.  I think I succeeded!

According to Wikipedia, "In Mexican cuisine, pico de gallo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpiko ðe ˈɣaʎo], rooster's beak), also called salsa fresca, is a fresh, uncooked condiment made from chopped tomato, white onion, and chilis (typically jalapeños or serranos). Other ingredients may also be added, such as lime juice and/or apple cider vinegar, fresh cilantro (coriander leaf), cucumber, radish or firm fruit, such as mango."

I didn't really like the sound of some of this, so, like Sinatra, I did it my way!

Ingredients:

3 medium-sized ripe tomatoes

1/3 of a large sweet onion

1 or 2 medium jalapeño peppers

Juice of one medium lime

2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro

2 tsp rice vinegar or white vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

r 1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp dried oregano

2 packets of Splenda

Peel and chop the three tomatoes. Place in a colander and allow juices to drain while you prepare the remainder of the ingredients. Finely chop the onion and place in a bowl. Remove the seeds and veins from the jalapeño, then finely chop the peppers. Add the peppers to the onion. Chop the cilantro leaves and add to the bowl. Next, add lime juice, vinegar, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and Splenda. Finally, add the chopped tomatoes and stir all the ingredients well. This can be served immediately or stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Our pico de gallo topped steak fajitas ... YUM!