Pico de Gallo . . . from nothin' !

So what do you make when you've got leftover corn from tuna salad, half of a caramelized onion and one lonesome roma tomato? Pico de Gallo!

Once again in the same situation I'm often finding myself in, James was about to come home from his long trip, so I wanted to wait for him to do the big grocery shop. I knew I had those strange leftover bits, along with some awesome frozen jalapenos my dear friend gave me and a few chives. My task was set! And let me tell you- I whipped up this ridiculously easy pico in literally three minutes and it might have been the best I've tasted ever. SO...

Get out your strange leftovers that seem at least "semi- Mexican" in style. It can be anything... black beans, corn, jicama, tomatoes, all of the above, etc...

Toss the bits in your food processor, blender or Vitamix and PULSE until you're left with chunky salsa. Pico is meant to have a little texture, so don't puree this stuff, especially if you're throwing in a little corn. You want to have something to chomp!

I used: corn, onion, fresh jalapeno (seeds removed), chives, tomato and lots of lime juice.

What do you do when you've eaten your fill of this awesome pico, but you don't really want to save it because there's not really enough to generously serve to anyone else...? Toss it in some corn muffins and have "southwestern-y" corn muffins! Get creative! What else do you have in your fridge that you can add to your fresh, zesty corn muffins to make a great dinner out of? For me, it was that awesome appetizer of pico de gallo and an entree of a fresh cheeseburger, served with a TON of olive oil and balsamic kale, topped with my pretty, yellow, hot out of the oven corn muffin.

Look how tasty that is! Think outside the box a little, friends! :) When I find myself trying to get creative with nothing in my fridge, I think, "what strange special would I find on the menu at 300 East (insert whatever restaurant you totally love and actually are ever gutsy enough to order the specials from because you know they're always great)??" And then go from there! There are WAYYYY too many food combinations that are to die for if you're willing to work through your boring safe habits to get to them! ;)

Happy Cooking Creativity Tuesday to you all and I'll see you tomorrow!

xox