Fresh salsa is one of my favorite foods. For many years, my father and I practiced and practiced perfecting our salsa recipes. It became part of our bonding time together. Does it need more green chilies? Does it need more jalapeno? Ah, the secret ingredient —cilantro!
For this summer, I decided to modify the recipe a bit—and just in time for outdoor barbeques and hot summer days. I recently used my family as guinea pigs for this recipe at a barbeque, and it was a hit.My favorite ingredient in any salsa is cilantro— the leaves of the coriander plant. You can purchase cilantro at most grocery stores by the parsley.  Tip: If you leave the cilantro in the plastic bag in the refrigerator it will only last a few days before beginning to decompose.  I suggest placing it in a glass of water (stems down) in the refrigerator replacing the water every few days.  You will see that your cilantro will last much longer.

My favorite ingredient for this fruit salsa is jicama. Jicama is often referred to as the Mexican potato - but it is nothing like a potato. It is a root vegetable that has a thin brown skin and white crunchy flesh. It has a sweet and nutty flavor and full of water like a watermelon. The thin skin should be peeled just before using.

This is a very easy recipe. It just entails a lot of chopping! My biggest tip here is to use the correct knives for the job - I prefer a nicely weighted French knife (or chef's knife) for major chopping and dicing.  For the jalapeno and yellow pepper, I suggest a sharp paring knife to deseed and remove any white flesh. Another easy tip is to secure your cutting board with a wet cloth or paper towel underneath. This will stablize the cutting board so that it will not move with all of your chopping movement.
Ingredients:

1 Jicama (peeled and diced)
1 bunch Cilantro (coarsely chopped)
1 pint Blueberries (fresh and firm)
1/2 Watermelon (flesh diced)
1 Yellow pepper (seeded and diced)
2 small jalapenos (seeded and diced)
splash fresh lime juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
sea salt
Directions:

Prepare the jalapeno infused simple syrup. Boil water, sugar and 1/2 of your jalapeno's and jalapeno seeds until the mixture reduces by half.  Strain with a sieve.  Allow this mixture to cool (you do not want to cook the fruit).

In a large bowl, mix your diced jicama, chopped cilantro, blueberries, diced watermelon, yellow pepper, splash of fresh lime juice and a pinch of sea salt.  Pour over your cooled jalapeno infused simple syrup. Allow the mixture to cool in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour.  This allows the flavors to really come out.

Now, how do you eat this delicious salsa?  The easiest way is with a bowl of tortilla chips. I find that blue corn tortilla chips work best with this fruit salsa.  The lighter the better. The saltiness of the chips and the sweet and spicy flavor of the salsa are a perfect compliment.  This salsa also is a perfect topping to grilled  fish, pork or chicken.