Cherry Salsa

What do you do when you are sent 10 lbs. of gorgeous cherries? You have a cherry party, of course!

Last week, Northwest Cherries and OXO challenged a bunch of bloggers to create delicious recipes using 10 lbs. of the most perfect cherries. I have never had to make anything with so much fruit in my life, so I knew I was going to need some help with this one.

Luckily, I work with a bunch of foodies so I immediately requested their assistance with this challenge so we had a cherry party this past weekend! Five of us squished together in my small kitchen and got straight to work with lots of pitting, mixing, and chopping! We wanted to make a few recipes with all of the cherries, so I will be sharing these recipes this week. Then next weekend, I would love if you all could vote for me on OXO’s Facebook page because this cherry challenge is actually a contest! And the winner will get an awesome baking set from OXO, so stay tuned for those details later this week.

Ok, so we wanted to make a drink, something sweet, and then a savory recipe. We knew the savory recipe would be our biggest challenge as there aren’t really a lot of savory recipes floating around out there, but then Angela showed up with one of the best salsa recipes ever…this cherry salsa!

This was definitely the favorite recipe of the day amongst all of the ladies. We served it over some coconut chicken and it was totally perfect. And then we served it on bread smeared with goat cheese and it was even more amazing so we dubbed this salsa as “the best salsa ever.” It’s that serious. This salsa can really go on anything you want. We also ate it with some tortilla chips. Mixed with lime juice, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper, the cherries are the perfect compliment.

Cherry Salsa

Cherry Salsa (with Coconut Chicken)
Yield: 4 servings

Cherry Salsa (with Coconut Chicken)

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Cherry Salsa with Coconut Chicken - Fresh cherry salsa made with coconut crusted chicken. Such a perfect summer dinner!

Ingredients

For the cherry salsa:

  • 2 cups sweet cherries, stemmed, pitted and chopped
  • 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 lime, zested and juiced
  • 1 avocado, pit removed and diced
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For the coconut chicken:

  • 2 large chicken breasts, trimmed and cut in half
  • 2 eggs, whisked together
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

For the salsa:

  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl until well-combined. Chill for 30-60 minutes before serving.

For the chicken:

  1. Combine the breadcrumbs, coconut, and salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dip each piece of chicken into eggs and then into the breadcrumb and coconut mixture until well-coated.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, turn over and cook for additional 5 minutes until golden brown and cooked thoroughly. Spoon the salsa on top of the chicken.

Notes

If you plan to wait longer than an hour to serve the salsa, I recommend waiting to add in the avocado until you are ready to serve it.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1/4th

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 453Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 144mgSodium: 336mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 8gSugar: 12gProtein: 26g

Cherry Salsa