Pineapple and Avocado Salsa

It is a beautiful spring day in Washington DC and its put me in a good mood. I don’t like winters and sort of hibernate for months but when spring comes around, I start to get in a good mood, I work-out more, I get my garden going and I get out to see friends more regularly.  This year spring in DC has been a little colder than usual but that also means that we are able to stay outdoors and enjoy the sun without being bothered by the ubiquitous mosquitoes and the high humidity that plagues the mid-Atlantic region. The temps lately have been perfect – it’s sunny and close to 70F. The cloudless blue sky, the warm weather, colorful flowering azaleas and chirping birds in my backyard put me a great mood. The kind of mood that makes me want to have a party.  Well, it is Cinco de Mayo, so I guess that should give me an excuse to make some Margaritas and have them with some chips and salsa!

Ingredients:

1.    ¼ of a fresh pineapple (I bought the pre-cut pineapple packet from Trader Joe’s)
2.    One seedless orange (I used a Cara Cara orange)
3.    1 lemon
4.    One avocado (preferable should be ripe but not too soft)
5.    One Jalapeno pepper
6.    1/3 cup of chopped cilantro leaves
7.    One small Persian cucumber
8.    1 teaspoon of honey
9.    2 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
10.    One small shallot

Directions:

1.    Wash and dice the cucumber finely and place it in a large bowl.

2.    Peel and dice the shallot finely and add the diced pieces to the large bowl

3.    Finely chop the fresh pineapple (should be about 1/3 of a cup of diced pineapple). Place the diced pieces in the bowl.

4.    Peel and cut the orange into small pieces. Remove the peel and the white layer below the peel carefully.  Place the chopped orange into the mixing bowl.

5.    Peel and dice the avocado. It is important to not use a very ripe and mushy avocado otherwise it gets mushed up in the salsa and doesn’t look very attractive.

6.    Juice the lemon over the mixing bowl. Make sure to juice the lemon immediately after you cut the avocado so that the avocado doesn’t start to get darkened (the acid in the lemon stops the oxidization process on the surface of the avocado).

7.    Remove the stem and the seeds from inside the Jalapeno pepper and finely dice the flesh of the Jalapeno. Place the diced pieces into the mixing bowl.

8.    Finely chop the cilantro leaves and add them to the mixing bowl.

9.    Sprinkle some salt over the mixing bowl.

10.    Add the honey and the extra virgin olive oil to the mixing bowl.

11.    Gently toss all the contents of the mixing bowl using a serving spoon.
12.    Serve the salsa with corn Tortilla chips or over your favorite kind of grilled meats!

174