A little chopping of a couple apples, an avocado, and some herbs yields this sweet and sassy salsa. Apples get second-billing to all the pumpkin spice la-dee-dah stuff in the fall, but I’d take a juicy Honeycrisp over pumpkin-flavored treats any day. (Especially since pumpkin actually has no flavor, and it’s really the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves everyone is gaga about!!! Let’s just stop the pumpkin madness, people.)

This super simple recipe was in the August 2016 Real Food magazine, put out by Lunds & Byerlys, and I tagged it to try as soon as Honeycrisp’s were in season, as those are my faves. It went together in a snap, and we served it as an appetizer to a meal of smoked chicken, and yellow rice and peas. The fresh and crispy salsa was a great complement to our comfort food, and a nice change-of-pace from tomato salsa. Our taste-testers this time were my son Justin and his girlfriend Ashley, and they both found the taste twist to be refreshing. I did sub in a Granny Smith apple for one of the sweeter variety, and that really helped. I also adjusted seasonings throughout the recipe. Tip: you’ll want to sharpen your knives and dice small, so you get a good mix of fruit bits on your chips. 

Serves 8-10

1 Granny Smith apple, cored, and diced
1 Honeycrisp apple, cored, and diced (or Gala, or other sweeter apple)
1 avocado, diced
½ cup cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters
1 scallion, sliced (use both white and green parts of the green onion)
1 fresh jalapeño, minced (remove stem veins, and seeds)
Juice of ½ of lime
1 teaspoon sugar
2-3 tablespoons of minced fresh cilantro
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in bowl, and toss to combine. Cover and chill for an hour to blend flavors. Serve with corn tortilla chips.