A salsa made with the best flavors of summer - bell pepper, tomatoes, cucumber, chilies, zucchini and corn - nicely seasoned and tossed with a quality creamy Italian dressing.

Summer Vegetable Salsa

Okay. Question.

Is this a salsa? You know, like meant to be eaten with chips? Or as a condiment for grilled or pan seared proteins?

Or, is it a dip, solely meant to be scooped up on a chip?

Or, is it a salad? Meant to be eaten on its own?

My version of the famous spicy tomato, garlic and cream cheese based dip sold at Central Market grocery stores in Texas and well loved by many.

Texas Love Dip - My Way

I had never heard of Texas Love Dip before. 

But, I had been seeing it passed around on social media for awhile and finally gave it a try.

Apparently it originated from a Texas grocery chain, Central Market, H-E-B, or both, and is a popular party dip there.

Fiesta Taco "Boat Dip"

My own take of the TikTok viral "boat dip," made with a blend of sour cream, mayo, taco seasoning, salsa, Mexicorn and Mexican-style blended cheese. It's a perfect addition for your collection of dip recipes!

Fiesta Taco Dip

If you spend any time on social media you may have seen a dip going around recently called "boat dip." There are now such a wide range of variations of that dip out there that it's hard to say what the original recipe ingredients and ratios were, or even who the originator was.

The only thing that seems in agreement is that it was called boat dip because it was a dip that was routinely made to carry on boat trips for that family.

I actually tried quite a few of those variations myself and this one is the one that I settled on.

Fresh tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, fresh lime juice and cilantro make up this fresh salsa. Use it as a dip for tortilla chips, as a garnish for tacos, fajitas and quesadillas, or as a side condiment for grilled meats.

Pico de Gallo

Although we are nearing the end of backyard season, tomatoes, like most other once seasonally available vegetables, are actually now available year round.

Even still, you and I both know that winter tomatoes are picked early to survive their long travel path and just do not taste the same as our summer tomatoes, especially those backyard tomatoes, straight off the vine. Now is the perfect time to enjoy this fresh salsa as much as you can.

Thing is, with pico de gallo, there really is no "right" recipe. It's strictly personal.

A fresh salsa of tomatoes, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime, tossed with freshly poached wild American shrimp. Serve as a garnish to grilled foods, fish, on tacos, as a topping or as an appetizer with some sturdy tortilla chips.

Shrimp Salsa

You may have seen something like this around the net or social media referred to as shrimp ceviche. I guess that's okay, though a tad bit misleading, since ceviche is usually made using a raw fish marinated in heavy citrus juices.

This one, while it begins with raw shrimp, for this recipe, the shrimp is first poached, though it is an excellent salsa with roasted or grilled shrimp as well.

A roundup of favorite salsas from fresh corn and black bean, restaurant style, watermelon and jalapeno, Mississippi style Texas caviar, black-eyed pea salsa and made from garden fresh veggies - there's one sure to please!

Salsa Collection

While they're certainly good all year round, one way to beat the heat for mealtime is a good salsa, whether served as a snack with chips, a meal for me, or used as a condiment with grilled foods. Here's some of my favorites. Be sure to check back as I'm sure I'll be adding to the collection over time!

Southern Caviar - a vinaigrette dressed, festive southern vegetable salad twist on salsa, made with black-eyed peas, celery, pimentos, jalapeno, garlic, green onion and fresh tomato, and beloved on the church supper, potluck and entertaining circuits.

Southern Caviar - Black Eyed Pea Salad

I spent the weekend clearing away clutter and doing a bit of organizing. Seems like I had a pile of this and that, here and there and everywhere! Course, I've never been one of those folks who has had a "magazine" house, where it all looks beautiful and pristine, with the latest furniture and decorating trends, and not a thing out of place, as if nobody actually lived there, but... things are lookin' just a tad bit too lived-in around here lately.

Apparently I can either spend time with my grandbabies, review products, develop recipes, write columns, style and photograph food, blog, cook or clean... but not any one of them simultaneously, never mind several at the same time. (Y'all already know which one of these takes priority though, right? ::smile::) And to think... I used to be such a great multi-tasker, ha!

Fire 'n Ice Watermelon Salsa, made with bell pepper, jalapeno, red onion, garlic, lime and cilantro, and watermelon, shown here with my Frozen Watermelon Margaritas.

Fire 'n Ice Watermelon Salsa

I have already been eating cucumbers, cantaloupe, strawberries, watermelon and tomatoes, like I'm never gonna see them again, and summer only just arrived.

Far as I'm concerned they need to move the official beginning of summer up, and just cut spring short, because in the Deep South spring is, oh, I don't know... about two weeks at most I'm guessing. Summer heat and humidity run right on in like it's been waiting. Much of the rest of the country has been pretty hot too from what I'm seeing, so clearly it's not just the south. At least some of y'all do get a reprieve once in awhile. We don't, at least not until it's pretty much winter. Apparently my body just needs hydration or something, because those cooling foods absolutely have been a regular part of my diet here lately.

Garden Fresh Salsa, made with juicy tomatoes, sweet Vidalia onions, crisp sweet garden bell peppers, spicy fresh jalapeno, sweet corn on the cob and fragrant garden cilantro.

Garden Fresh Salsa

Here it is running up on mid-August already and I realize that I've got quite a few summer posts like this one to catch up on! So don't go fussin' at me for posting a series of non-traditional recipes that may not necessarily fit into the "Southern" recipe box. Besides our southern favorites and classic southern recipes, like everybody else, we also enjoy a wide variety of other foods too, like this.

 

Salsa made with fresh off the cob corn and summer garden tomatoes, black beans, lime and cilantro. Just add some chips.

Fresh Corn and Black Bean Salsa

One of my favorite snacks is tortilla chips and salsa, and one of my favorite salsas is the corn and black bean variety.  I sort of fiddled around a bit with the basics of my restaurant style salsa and came up with this homemade version, both making and plowing through it several times already, all on my little own.

Texas Caviar, done up my way, Mississippi style. Sort of a take on a bean salad really, it's simply a mixture of your favorite canned beans, usually the addition of corn, and a variety of chopped raw vegetables, all tossed in a vinaigrette.

Texas Caviar Salsa - Mississippi Style

There are loads of "caviar" recipes out there, most of them simply called Texas Caviar, though quite a few recipes hail from Mississippi too. Even though I can claim roots in both territories, I'm staying out of that debate.

Sort of a take on a bean salad really, it's simply a mixture of canned beans, usually corn, and a variety of chopped raw vegetables, all tossed in some kind of vinaigrette.

Mine is different from the classic Texas style version because I like to play around with the beans a bit.

Kickin' RO*TEL Restaurant Style Salsa

 

Tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, garlic, a little lime juice and cilantro, whirled up in the food processor to give you a nice restaurant style salsa that we all love.

Restaurant Style Salsa

Restaurant style salsa is so easy to make at home and a can of RO*TEL tomatoes will give it just the right kind of punch. Really, just about any place that you use a canned tomato, you can substitute RO*TEL for some added flavor, and salsa is just one way I love to use RO*TEL tomatoes.

Now, don't get me wrong. I absolutely love fresh from the garden tomatoes - when they are in season and at their peak flavor. A fresh chopped tomato salsa is incredible as a garnish, or for a fresh salsa, such as pico de gallo, so for this, you'll want to pretty much pulverize them since here, we're talking my favorite super easy, perfect for dipping with white corn tortilla chips salsa, like the kind that you get in a Mexican restaurant.