Recipe for a Tasty Pico de Gallo

      Since we are almost in the middle of National Nutrition Month I'd like to share with you my easy, healthy recipe for Pico de Gallo.  I make this every week and store it in a container in my refrigerator.  We use it if we have shrimp tacos, or beef tacos.  And if I want a salad at lunch, I've already got a good vegetable mix ready to toss with some lettuce or spinach.  It's very convenient to have it already made if you are hungry and want to add some vegetables and fruit (tomatoes are officially categorized as fruit) to your meal it's easy to do once everything is already cleaned, chopped and prepared.  
     First I wash the tomatoes (3 medium sized), the jalapeno pepper (1 large), the onion (about 1/3 of a small red onion) and the cilantro (to taste).  Then I chop up the tomatoes, the jalapeno pepper (which I seed first) and the red onion.  I toss them together in my container.  Then I add some cilantro leaves.  And finally, I squeeze the juice of half a lime into the mixture.  I mix it thoroughly and refrigerate until I'm ready to use in a recipe.

Tasty Pico de Gallo

This is a good way to get your daily fruit and vegetable servings into your diet.  And if it's already prepared in advance you are more likely to eat them regularly.  There has been a recent study in England that shows eating tomatoes can help protect against sunburn.  An article in “Mail Online” discusses the study and the results (click here to read).  And peppers may help with weight loss.  There is an article in “The Money Times” that reports one study at the UCLA center for human nutrition that is an interesting article (click here to read).  At Eat Right American Dietetic Association the message for National Nutrition Month this year is to "Eat Right With Color". This simple, easy recipe is one way to help do that this month and beyond.   The added bonus is this recipe tastes and smells great!  If you try it out and use any variations, let me know.  I'm always looking for new ideas.