By Erika Waz, Kids Cuisine & Tummy Treasure – My children have recently discovered that they enjoy chips and salsa. They ask for it fairly often for a snack, and since I make my own salsa, preservative free, I tend to let them have it whenever they ask for it. But the other day after school, I wanted to try a twist on salsa, and neither child seemed disappointed with the results.
Generally, salsa is tomatoes, onions, peppers, and seasonings finely chopped together. I couldn’t think of any reason why I couldn’t do the same thing, only using fruit as my base. I chopped and diced and tossed, and just a few minutes later I had a gorgeous bowl of fruit salsa sitting in front of me. Still, it needed a dipper. I thought briefly about graham crackers, but ultimately decided that I wanted to stick with the theme of “chips-n-salsa.”
I took some flour tortillas, cut them into wedges, and sprinkled them with a tiny bit of cinnamon. These were sprayed with cooking spray and baked in a 350ºF oven for about 10 minutes–or until crispy. The fruit salsa and chips were a hit, and will make many more appearances both as after school snacks and lunchbox fillers.
Our salsa contained strawberries, mango, kiwi, and pear, and I tossed it in some pineapple nectar to keep the fruit from browning. Lemon juice would also be fine. Other fruits I would consider would be melons, banana, pineapple, and cherries, but I suspect that just about any fruit would be delicious. Regardless what fruit you use, fruit salsa is tasty, nutritious, and a great change of pace.
