Peach & Radish Salsa

I first heard about Summer Fest 2009 from Jaden Hair, one of the organizers, via her blog Steamy Kitchen. I love the idea of this cross blog celebration of fresh-from-the-garden food. Each week there is a different topic, I missed out on last weeks fresh herbs but am jumping in with this week fruit from trees. See below for more info on Sumerfest and how you too can participate.

One of my favorite fruit from trees are peaches. I have sung the praises of peaches here before so I won't bore you, other than to say I was ecstatic to find that peaches are grown right here in Ontario and I found this past weekend that they are now in season here in Ontario. On a stop at a local farmer's market on our way up north I acquired some gorgeous local peaches, radishes, peppers and jalapenos. As we continued on our way to the cottage I decided to make a peach and radish salsa, not only to use the beautiful fruits and veggies from the farmer's market but also because I've been challenging myself lately to make at the very least mostly local dishes, with the goal being completely local. I have yet to wean myself from spices yet and as there is no salt or pepper local to Ontario it may be a awhile before I go completely local.



Peach & Radish Salsa

4 small peaches
4 large or 6 small radishes
1 small orange bell pepper
1/2 jalapeno pepper
1 handful fresh cilantro with stems
1/2 lime - juice
salt & pepper

1. Blanch cleaned peaches in boil water for 1 minute, then immediately place in a large bowl of iced cold water. Let sit in water for 2 minutes or until cool enough to handle and carefully remove the skins.
2. Cut peach flesh away from pit and cut into a 1/2 inch dice. Wash radishes and cut into a 1/2 inch dice.
3. Wash & seed orange pepper and cut into a 1 inch dice. Wash & seed half a jalapeno pepper and mince finely. Roughly chop cilantro.
4. In a non reactive bowl toss together peaches, radishes, peppers, cilantro and lime juice. Salt & pepper to taste. Serve immediately or it will get soggy.


This was a deliciously sweet & savory salsa with the sweetness of the peaches pairing nicely with bite of the radishes. I'm not a huge radish fan but really enjoyed this. We ate the salsa with just some multi grain tortilla chips, but I think it would also be delicious on a grilled hot dog with some shredded cheddar.

How you can join Summer Fest

Summer Fest 2009 is a four-week, cross-blog celebration co-created (alphabetically listed) by A Way to Garden, Matt Armendariz of Mattbites, Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, and Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple, with guest appearances from Shauna and Daniel Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl, Simmer Till Done’s Marilyn Pollack Naron, and Paige Smith Orloff of The Sister Project. And from you—that’s critical. Your contributions are desired, and needed.

Will you play along? Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? Starting today, with the subject of herbs, you can contribute in various ways, big or small. Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. The possibilities:

Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and some pretty great dialog starts simmering.

Or think bigger: Publish entire entire posts of your own, if you wish, and grab the juicy Summer Fest 2009 tomato badge (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites).

Summer Fest 2009 Schedule:

• Tuesday, July 28: HERBS. Any and all.

• Tuesday, August 4: FRUITS FROM TREES (also known as stone fruits, but we won’t scream if you toss in a berry or another fruit, promise).

• Tuesday, August 11: BEANS-AND-GREENS WEEK (either or both, your choice).

• Tuesday, August 18: TOMATO WEEK. How do you like them love apples?

Hope you'll join in or at least check out what some of the other participants are doing. Enjoy!