Bonita Springs – Tomato Fields to Golf Courses

Bonita Springs Best Pico de Gallo

Remember when Bonita Springs, Florida was the tomato capital of the world? I do . There was a little real estate craze and a lot of those tomato fields are now golf courses and housing developments. You can still get a fresh mater’ around here if you look for them. Right now, I have a basket of tomatoes and I’m about to use them … for food. Be a weekend warrior just like me, if you dare. If you’re the type to throw caution to the wind start chopping or just print this out for use when you’re ready. Yeah, I heard about the great tomato recall of 2008 but I’m living on the edge today. I was warned by on of the Naples Daily News column readers not to do it. Heck, I might not even wash those tomatoes. Ease up there reader, I’ll wash them.

First of all, I love produce from roadside fruit stands. I stopped in at the Bonita Springs Lions Club produce stand a day or so ago for provisions after I was done showing real estate to a buyer. This week besides fresh tomatoes I picked up tomatillos (those green paper covered tomato looking things), cilantro, jalapeños, onions and lime. Read Also: Bonita Springs Roadside

Enjoy this recipe if you want some kickin’ home made salsa and dragon breath to match:

Ingredients for the best Pico de Gallo in Bonita Springs, Florida:

• Four or five tomatoes, whatever variety you find or are in season. Get the seeds out and chop ‘em up whatever size you want.
• Tomatillos. You’ll want a couple. If you can’t find them skip it. For you people from Connecticut here is what a Tomatillo Is.
• Cilantro. A good handful. Cilantro looks like parsley but doesn’t taste like it, so no swap outs are permitted.
• At least one jalapeño is necessary for you delicate types. If you’re into zip, bump this up to two or three. For the record, the name is “Pico de gallo”, translates to “roosters beak” or “peck of the rooster.” It’s supposed to have some bite. Chop up the peppers. Here’s a little hint. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, and then clean the seeds and white membranes out under running water. You’ll have fewer problems. Also, after you’ve been handling peppers, you want to make darned sure that you wash your hands very carefully, two or three times, before you do something like rub your eyes. Take my word for this.
• Onion: Half a baseball sized yellow or white onion. If don’t know what the heck you’re going do with the rest of that onion go back and double everything I’ve listed above, and use the whole thing.
• A large garlic clove minced
• Lime: One large, or two small.
• Salt

Here’s what you do:

Chop up all but the lime and put it in a bowl. Squeeze lime over it. Mix it. Let it sit for 30 minutes in the fridge after significant sampling. Eat it. It will look like this:

Yes, this will soon be legendary Pico De Gallo across Bonita Springs, Florida and you didn’t expect something so remarkable from a real estate agent. I should set up a booth at the Taste of Coconut Point, even. (Taste is Sunday) Read also: Taste of Coconut Point – Things To Do This Weekend

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Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area. Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city, local real estate information, real estate market reports and a little shenanigans. If you have topic ideas, feel free to share them or request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.

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Tags: Bonita Springs, dining, Events, florida, Naples Daily News, retaurant, roadside fruit stand, taste of bonita, taste of coconut point, Things To Do