A Restaurant owner once told me... "A Good Pico De Gallo recipe should follow the same proportions as the Mexican Flag. Red, White and Green in equal amounts."

Red= Tomato White= Onion Green = Cilantro

This is the basic foundation of any Pico De Gallo. From there you can add additional seasonings.

Remove the first couple of layers from the onion, these are usually tougher and don't mince as well.

Using a Chef’s knife, chop up the tomato, onion, and Tomatillos into chunks.

Using the same Chef’s knife, chop off roughly half of the top of the the cilantro, trying to get as many leaves without the stems as possible.

Pick through the cilantro and separate the leaves from the stems, discarding the stems as you go along.

Chop up the ingredients and put into a large bowl. The exact consistency can vary, 4 or 5 chops for a lager chunkier consistency, or 10-12 for a finer, more thinner consistency. The more you chop, the more watery the tomatoes will become, so be careful.

John ‘s TIP #1: Put pinches of cilantro into a food chopper first, with heavier tomato and onion chunks on top of it. This will help the cilantro to actually get cut up by the chopping blades.

John's TIP #2: Periodically shake the Food Chopper to shift the food around and make sure nothing gets stuck to the sides.

Add a pinch of Paprika and the 1/2 tsp of salt to the mixture and stir.

Finally add the lime and a dash of Olive oil (optional) and mix a 2nd time.

Taste, then add a little more of any particular ingredient to balance the flavors or give it more kick.

Refrigerator for half an hour before serving to allow the flavors to mingle.

Submitted by: John Schutzman