Weather: bright blue skies and sunshine, light breeze
What I’m listening to: birds chirping (since the sun hardly goes down this time of year, they even chirp in the middle of the night)
Our love for summer stone fruit began in Central California many years ago, where we have good friends who are farmers. Their fruit is the absolute freshest and most delicious I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting.
White nectarines and white peaches are among my favorites, but since stone fruit can cost just about an arm and a leg up here in Alaska, I began to feel guilty about enjoying a whole one straight from the fruit bowl. It was time to find some different preparations for our favorite summer fruit to stretch them out and get a little more bang for our buck. You can certainly also do this if you have a large quantity of nectarines from your local fruit stand or Farmer’s Market that you need to use up.
White nectarines have pale flesh, so the salsa takes on a gorgeous green hue from the cilantro and jalapeño, with little specks of purple from the red onion. It has a lovely natural sweetness form the nectarine follow by a great spicy punch from the garlic, onion, and jalapeño. As always, you can adjust the spice level to your preference.
P.S. Summer is wildflower season up here, so here is the view from my kitchen window – thousands of dandelions. We were out of town last week and this is what it looked like when we came back. Very beautiful, but time to mow!
White Nectarine Salsa
Adapted from [Family Tree Farms|http://www.familytreefarms.com/recp_WhiteHotSalsa.php]
- 1 large or 2 small white nectarines, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, stemmed and chopped (I left in the seeds, but feel free to take them out)
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1/4c chopped red onion
- 1/4c cilantro
- 1 lime, juiced
- salt to taste
- water (as needed for consistency - depends on the juiciness of your fruit)
Toss all of the ingredients into a blender or food processor and whirl until well combined. Water can be used for consistency, added 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached (I used a couple of tablespoons). Taste for salt and season as desired. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, at least one hour recommended.