If you’re familiar with Tex-Mex cooking at all, you know that pico de gallo is a staple of this type of cuisine.  Even though we don’t cook Tex-Mex all that often at home, we certainly eat a lot of it at local restaurants.  We never really considered making homemade pico, until we found the recipe for “Disappearing” Pork Tenderloin, which includes pico de gallo as a topping for the pork.  One of the great things about pico is how versatile it is — you can use it with many different dishes (not all of which are traditionally Tex-Mex), from pork tenderloin, to tacos, to fish.  Delicioso! 

Start with 1-2 teaspoons of minced serrano chiles, including the seeds.  You can also use jalapenos, if you can’t find the serrano chiles.

Add 1 cup finely diced red onion.

Next, 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro.

Then 2 cups finely diced tomatoes.  We used grape tomatoes, but Dan says roma tomatoes or tomatoes on the vine would probably be best. 

 Add about a tablespoon of fresh lime juice.

And a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

Finally, add about a teaspoon of kosher salt.

Stir all the ingredients together and you have pico de gallo! 

We leave you with this fun fact:  the literal translation of “pico de gallo” is beak of the rooster.  (Once I looked it up, I had to share — I needed to not be the only one with that knowledge.)