One of the things I love best about the holiday season is unexpected guests at meal time. No, really. I genuinely mean that with zero sarcasm at all. Why do I love something that so many dread? I love the excitement, the conviviality, the boisterous fun, and the challenge of stretching a meal that was intended for seven into a meal for however many we may have had the great blessing to collect at our doorstep. Part of the reason for this is that I keep a pretty well-stocked pantry. And by ‘pretty-well stocked pantry’ I mean if you saw my basement you might think I was a doomsday prepper. I’m not. I’m just hungry and capricious and live in the middle of nowhere and want to satisfy my every food whim without driving to Timbuktu or Rochester to get little things. It pays off, though, my people! When friends or family call and say they will be in the area, I can easily exclaim, “Stop by! I’ll make dinner!” and actually mean it. I personally can a ton of produce myself throughout the summer, filling about five hundred or so jars of various sizes, but even so I can’t get to it all. Del Monte® fruits, tomatoes, and vegetables help fill in the gaps that were left by what my garden failed to produce or I couldn’t buy at farmer’s markets. For instance? My sorry old garden didn’t turn out one single tomato this year. Thank goodness for Del Monte® tomatoes. Most of what Del Monte cans (just about 90%!!) is grown right here in the United States and packed at the peak of ripeness to lock in nutrients and flavour which makes me one happy camper.
Bonus: 95% of what they can is preservative free.
Having a pantry well stocked with garden quality ingredients is like having shelves full of ideas. What do you think when you see those cans? I think peach cobbler, pineapple salsa, corn and black bean dip, Italian style tomato soup, and restaurant style salsa. Now how about that for inspiration in feeding unexpected guests? That’s probably a grand total of about $10 worth of cans, which makes that laundry list of deliciousness economical, too. Partay at my house! If you’d like to see some other great ideas for stocking garden quality™ canned fruits and vegetables in your pantry and get more information on the Del Monte® family of products, please hop on over to their facebook page and ‘like’ them!
The recipe I’m sharing today is a classic in our family. It came about when my stepmom talked me off of a culinary panic cliff when the mangos I had purchased to make mango salsa were mealy and gross. She suggested I replace the nasty mangoes with cans of crushed pineapple, which -she pointed out- would also save us a little work by being already cut up and bite sized. Gosh, but she was brilliant. We all liked it so much that we made sure we had ingredients for it at all times. It is a chameleon, being fantastic as a chip dip OR served spooned over grilled, roasted, broiled or fried fish, chicken, pork, or beef. It’s also a light, refreshing topper for beans and rice or black bean soup or chili, as my stepmom also did regularly. Our family is a little obsessed with it… We hope you love it, too!
Garden Pantry Pineapple Salsa {5 minute recipe}
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 can Del Monte Crushed Pineapple in 100% Juice 15.25 ounces, not heavy syrup!
- 1/2 red bell pepper stemmed, seeded, and diced
- 1/2 small red onion peeled
- 1/2 jalapeno pepper stemmed, seeded, and minced
- 1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro or parsley leaves
- 1 lime juiced, or 2 tablespoons bottled lime juice
- 1 clove garlic peeled and minced or pressed
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Don't blink or you'll miss how to make this.
- Strain the pineapple juice away from the crushed pineapple in a fine mesh strainer. (Save the juice for smoothies.) Stir the pineapple and rest of the ingredients together. It can be served immediately, but flavours improve if allowed to sit together for 20 minutes in the refrigerator if time allows. Leftovers taste best within 3 days, but are safe to eat for up to a week after stirring together.
- Serve as a chip dip or spooned over grilled/broiled/roasted fish, chicken, pork, or beef. It's also wonderful on fish tacos, with beans and rice, or on black bean chili.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Reader's Thoughts...
elis689 says
beans, tomatoes and pineapples
Lisa says
Peaches & pears!
sara says
tweeted https://twitter.com/SaraMama/status/402578468279705600
sara says
Tomatoes of every variety, stewed, diced and juice. Pineapple, and tons of apple sauce.
Susie says
PINEAPPLE!!!! yum. and mandarin oranges. and peaches. and pears. and pineapple. and more pineapple. 🙂
yay for more entries! 😀
https://twitter.com/susieskillman/status/402574080022290432
AMG says
Canned tomatoes are what I use the most of, to make salsa, soup and sauce for pasta.
Lisa@The Cutting Edge of Ordinary says
I have lots of beans in my pantry, green beans, black beans, pinto beans, etc. I also have a few cans of pie filling for certain desserts when fresh is just not avilable. I can up a bunch of apple sauce and apple butter too! Thanks for the chance to win this Bec. I love me some Crate & Barrel!
Janel says
We have tons of tomatoes in various forms and also peaches and pineapple!
Kelly D says
tweet
https://twitter.com/Kellydinpa/status/402530862920503298
Kelly D says
I like to stocked canned pineapple and corn on my pantry.
Amy Livers says
Tomatoes (crushed, petite diced, sauce, and paste), beans (black, cannellini, and garbanzo), and pumpkin.
wenders says
Canned tomatoes, pineapples, peaches, mandarin oranges, garbanzo beans, corn.
Rebecca says
We always have some canned pineapple in our pantry… never know what you might need it for… ham glaze, Jell-O salad, after dinner treat, etc.
Lucy B. says
Tomatoes, corn & pineapple.
Karen B says
Tomatoes, salsa, applesauce and green beans.
Lori H says
Diced tomatoes & black beans can always be found in my pantry! So excited to hear the produce is grown in the US!
Brittany B says
lots and lots of tomatoes!
jana says
https://twitter.com/janapritchett1
jana says
We can peaches, pears and applesauce, along with salsa and tomatoey stuff. But the best is hot pepper jelly. We always have a dish to bring to a party ready to go.
Kayley Maybe says
I tweeted! https://twitter.com/KayleyMaybe/status/402481443818844160