Figgy Fruit Salsa

   

Actually I am glad that Elizabeth had a ton of extras and brought them over as my figs mysteriously vanished off the tree last week.  The celeste had been loaded and I had seen a few birds flitting in and out, but I have never had them completely stripped, as that appears to be what has happened.  What purloined the figs?  A murder of crows?  Did an entire army of possums move in and help themselves?  There are no fruits to be found at all.   A few half eaten remains on the ground along with a lot of yellowed leaves that have dropped, but the brebas are gone.  To say I was disappointed, I really wasn't, as I still have figs tucked away that are frozen, dried, candied and pickled from those years when I was praying for them to stop!  Maybe this will be the year that my fig cupboard will finally be bare!

We had a function to go to on Sunday and I was sweating my brain trying to come up with something
new and I remembered glancing at an article while sitting in the doctor's waiting room that had a  recipe for a summery fruit salsa.  I couldn't recall all the ingredients, but remembered it had mangoes, seasonal berries, a bit of onion, cilantro and parsley.  And I had all those lovely  Turkey Figs sitting on the kitchen counter.  I also had some blueberries and big blackberries that I had picked up from the Farmer's Market on Saturday.    Why not make a figgy salsa and see how that would work!  Beautifully, as it turned out!

What actually went into the salsa?  These are approximations of the ingredients used:

2  fist sized mangoes - chopped
1 pound of chopped strawberries
1/2 a pineapple - chopped
1  pint blackberries halved
1  pint blueberries, lightly crushed
1 cup chopped figs
1/2 jalapeno seeded and diced
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon sugar

From the garden I added 1 heaping tablespoon of chopped cilantro and parsley.

Throw everything into a large bowl and refrigerate a couple of hours before serving the fruit salsa with some freshly made Cinnamon Tortilla Strips!

What was really nice about this is that being a salsa recipe, you can throw just about anything together as far as the fruit, add the jalapeno and herbs and you've elevated a fruit "cocktail" to something a bit more exotic.