Years ago I worked in Nantucket, Massachusetts for a summer. Nantucket if you do not know is a little island in the Atlantic off of Cape Cod, 30 miles out to sea. I was in college and worked as a chambermaid, yes that's what I was called. I was basically housekeeping at a bed and breakfast called the Four Chimneys. One of the many jobs we had was to put out chef made snacks around 4 pm with wine and beer for the guests. The chef, who was a student at The CIA at The Hotel School at Cornell, made the most delicious, refreshing salsa I ever tasted. I learned it was from a book called Home Cooking from Nantucket by Nancy Asche Ivas.
Now closed, The Four Chimneys Inn
Now when I mentioned in the beginning that years ago I worked in Nantucket, I mean about 25 years ago. At 18 I moved to Nantucket for the summer. My second time to the island; my first being when I was 11 with my parents just for the day. People say Nantucket is magical, a happy place and I think it may be. I introduced my husband to the island when he was my then boyfriend. He proposed to me on the island, and then we got married on the island. There is something beautiful about it. It is 30 miles out to sea and has a rich history. A small village island in New England that is only a 30 minute flight from NYC.
Looking back on it do all roads in my life lead to Nantucket? Even when I lived on the west coast I came to this island for vacations.
This is a great recipe to pack for a picnic because you can make it a day in advance. And also this will last up to 2 weeks. That is if you don't eat it all right away.
Your ingredients:
4 ripe tomatoes (hello summer tomatoes!)
2 jalapeños (get out to that garden or fire escape and harvest your peppers)
1 small can tomato sauce or 1/4 cup V8
1 teaspoon garlic minced
salt to taste
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped (window box herb garden)
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 scallions
juice of 1 lemon or lime (optional)
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
Directions: Combine all ingredients, I usually am in a rush and use a mini chopper but you can cut everything up by hand if you want. If you want a chunky salsa you should manually cut up the ingredients. Pour into a bowl or storage container. Store overnight so the ingredients can settle and do the work. If you don't have over night time, you can also make in the morning or afternoon for dinner. The salsa is still quite good but the jalapeños definitely need some time to heat up the salsa. Enjoy!
Here is a link to the book this can be purchased thru Nantucket Bookworks which is a small, independent book store on the island, and my favorite bookstore ever.
Enjoy!