Chunky Bell Pepper and Peach Salsa

A home-made salsa served on top of or beside and entree adds a big “wow” factor to any meal and really dresses up plain meat, like grilled chicken, fish, beef, or pork.  On the other hand, fresh salsa means time to chop and mix and you might not appreciate a “wow” factor as much as a meal you can just sit down and eat right away. If you decide to prepare the salsa to go along with your Skillet Grilled Chicken Breasts, Weight Watchers has the best recipe I’ve tasted for this kind of salsa.  I can’t find a link to their recipe, so here is my version.

• 3 peaches (mangoes can be substituted), peeled, pits removed, and fruit cut into bite-sized wedges
• 1-2 bell peppers, seeded/cored and cut into bite-sized pieces; it doesn’t matter what color pepper, but you want an equal quantity of cut pepper to match the cut peaches/mangoes
• 1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves (no stems)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin (also called comino in Spanish)
• 1/4 teaspoon red or black pepper (red pepper is called cayenne, go with black pepper if you don’t like a lot of spice)

Prepare the peaches (or mangoes) and place wedges in a medium bowl.  Cut open the bell peppers, remove seeds and core membranes, then cut into bite-sized pieces and add to the peaches. Cut off 1/4 of a small red onion and slice this quarter of the onion into thin strips.  Cut the longest strips in half.  None of the onion pieces should be longer than the pepper or peach pieces.   Add in the chopped cilantro leaves. Toss the fruit, cilantro, and vegetables together in the bowl.  In a small bowl or in a mini food chopper, mix the spices, olive oil and lemon juice for the dressing.  Pour the dressing over the fruit and vegetables and toss lightly to coat all pieces.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 2 hours prior to serving.  Serve chilled.