Tomato and Corn Salsa

1 1/2 cups fresh ripe tomatoes, diced - 2 medium
(28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained can be substituted)
3/4 cup corn kernels, cooked
1/4 cup red onion, minced (sweet onion can be substituted)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Makes approximately 2 1/2 cups of salsa.

In small bowl, combine garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, corn kernels, tomatoes, onion, and cilantro. For a milder onion flavor, a sweet onion can be substituted for the red onion.
NOTE:Canned tomatoes can be substituted for fresh tomatoes. A 28 ounce can of tomatoes provides about 1 1/2 cups of tomatoes, drained. If canned tomatoes are used, drain the juice. Mix together and set aside until ready to serve.

If a spicier flavor is desired, add a can of seasoned diced tomatoes to the salsa ingredients.

Recipe from http://www.recipetips.com/.

CHANGES I MADE:

• I opted not to cook the corn. I cleaned it on the cob, cut it off the cob, and added it directly to the salsa. I really like raw sweet corn. A lot.
• I doubled the amount of cilantro. I also like cilantro. A lot.
  

THINGS I LEARNED:

• People who cut up herbs on TV are amazing. Seriously. Cutting up cilantro to the eensy-weensy size it needs to be for salsa is harder than I thought. I think I have a good technique now, though!
• I have a dicing gadget from Williams Sonoma, and I thought the smaller dicing size would be okay for the tomatoes, but I was wrong. The smaller one is great for the onions, but the tomatoes have to be the bigger of the two options.
• Balsamic vinegar smells really, really bad. I almost threw out the whole bowl of salsa because the vinegar smelled so bad, but once I got everything incoroprated, it was fine.
• I pressed the garlic with a garlic press. I'm not sure I know how to crush garlic.

OVERALL OPINIONS:

Bill: Loved it.

Me: Loved it.

Christa (faithful friend and trier of recipes): I think she really liked it. Not quite as much as Bill and I liked it, but she did say it was good. She's very honest.

Nate (another faithful friend and a hater of all-things-onion): Liked the cilantro, but couldn't deal with the onions. Sorry, Nate!

Bill and I ate all of the first batch with the exception of several chipsful Christa had and one chipful Nate tried. In one evening. It's good stuff. I made it again a day later, and Bill and I agree that we'll be adding a jalepeno or cerrano pepper to spice it up a bit, but it's a great mild salsa.

UPDATE (ten days later):

I have now made this salsa five or six times. I have tweaked the recipe nearly every time. Currently, I have found our favorite variation: double the onions as well as the cilantro; add two green onions, chopped (I use everything but the very end); add 1/3 can rinsed and drained black beans. Mmmmm... I took this variation on a play date this week, and Carrie (the other mom with me) ate a ton of it; she loved it!