Spitball Army

This recipe has evolved from several attempts to create a tomato-less relish that can be used for multiple purposes.  Not that I have anything against tomatoes, and I’ll readily admit that a well-made fresh tomato-based salsa is hard to beat.  But I am not a huge fan of the red fruit, and will avoid a tomatoey pasta sauce when there are other options available.

This avocado-based concoction is versatile.  It is a tasty addition to chicken dishes, as a garnish to a salad, as a sidecar to a bite of grilled steak, or in the standard chips-and-salsa mode.  If I still lived in my family’s second home in California – next door to a large avocado grove – I would be eating this weekly.  As it is, I will have to satisfy my urge to use this salsa on everything I eat only during “season” (which is to say, summer and fall).  If you are able to get these ingredients fresh year-round, celebrate; if not, it is pretty easy to make substitutions (frozen corn, lime juice in the little green plastic bottle, etc.).  Meanwhile, always remember that, in this particular case, “fresh” makes the best end product.

This is a heatless recipe.  Don’t prepare it more than a day before its intended use; otherwise the salsa becomes quite oniony while sitting in the refrigerator (though that problem could probably be avoided by using about half the suggested amount of onion).  Extended stays in the refrigerator will cause the crispy ingredients (bell pepper, onion, corn) to become soft, and the avocado to become mushy and brown (additional lime juice helps prevent the color change, but tarts the salsa up).

Ingredients (makes enough avocado salsa to fill a small cereal bowl):
– 2 avocados (Hass variety are best, and signal their ripeness when the pebbled skin has turned black)
– Juice of 1 lime
– 1/3 to 1/2 of a red onion
– 1/2 of a red bell pepper
– 1 cob of freshly-sheared corn (use white corn if sweeter taste preferred; makes about 3/4 to 1 cup of kernels)
– 1/2 bunch of cilantro
– Salt and pepper

Instructions:
De-seed the avocado, scoop the flesh from the skin, and dice the avocado flesh (be wary of cutting the avocado too finely, as the resulting mixture will become guacamole!)  Place in a bowl and mix immediately with the lime juice.

Dice the onion and red bell pepper (de-seed the bell pepper).  Add both to the bowl.

Shear the corn cob.  Break up any conjoined kernels and add these to the bowl, also.

Chop the cilantro leaves (the fewer stems, the better).  Be sure not to chop this herb too finely, as the taste of a partial leaf is a tangy surprise.  Add to the mixture.

Gently mix all of the ingredients together.  Add pepper and salt to taste (do not over-salt, as it can mask the flavors of the cilantro and corn).