Sacramento Digs Gardening: Mix up fresh citrus for this super salsa

This versatile salsa is like a bite of winter sunshine. And for the backyard farmer, it makes the most of what you’ve got.

Like many gardeners with home-grown citrus, I often end up with an assortment of (precious few) fruit. Small citrus trees yield harvests that I can count on my fingers. What do you do with a handful of kumquats?

It’s the kumquats that add something extra to this juicy mix; their edible skin give the salsa some extra crunch and zest.

For this batch, I used one orange, two mandarins and three kumquats to make the 1 cup chopped citrus. Grapefruit and tangerine work, too.

Citrus for salsa — A mix of citrus makes a lively salsa.

Chop the ingredients smaller if you plan to serve alongside chips. Otherwise, this citrus salsa makes a flavorful accompaniment to seafood, chicken, pork, steak or Southwestern fare such as steak tacos or pork enchiladas.

Citrus salsa

Makes about 1-1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup mixed chopped citrus such as orange, mandarin, kumquat, tangerine or grapefruit

Juice of 1 lime, preferably Mexican lime

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons green onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

Instructions:

Prepare fruit. Peel and seed most citrus before chopping. Slice kumquats very thin, without peeling; discard seeds.

In a medium bowl, mix together lime juice, olive oil, red and green onion, cilantro, red pepper flakes, white pepper and garlic salt. Add chopped citrus; toss gently.

Refrigerate for 1 hour or more to let flavors meld. It’s best served within one day.

Serve with chips, quesadillas, enchiladas, tacos, etc., or as an accompaniment to seafood, pork, chicken or steak.

RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipe recipes salsa citrus oranges limes kumquats mandarins grapefruit tangerines appetizer Sacramento gardening backyard orchard farmers markets produce management

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Flowers in My Back Yard Series

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

Local News

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Sites We Like

Garden checklist for week of April 19

After this midweek storm, start getting serious about spring gardening. Flowers are blooming about three weeks ahead of schedule. That includes weeds!

* Get ready to swing into action in the vegetable garden – if you haven’t already. As nights warm up over 50 degrees, set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash; wait on pumpkins until May. Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Give citrus trees a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants. If leaves look yellow, your tree may need an iron boost -- apply some chelated iron fertilizer.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden needs nutrition. Give shrubs and trees a slow-release fertilizer. Mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost, which helps the soil, but keep it a few inches away from trunks and stems.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

Taste Summer! E-cookbook