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We grew ground cherries for the first time this year. Having been previously under the impression that they only grow in northern climates, ground cherries were never something we considered growing here in the south. Now that we’re full-up on golden ground cherries, it’s time to do something with them.

Ground cherries taste like a tropical fruit crossed with a tomato. If you love sweet/savory combinations, you’ll find this fascinating fruit. When making recipes, our goal is to make food from the garden that highlights the crop’s delicate flavors. “Keep it simple” is a good motto for home-grown meals. So, we opted for an uncooked recipe to feature this unusual fruit: Ground Cherry Salsa.

Most of the recipes we saw called for roasting, but it was 90º outside every day in August (and nearly 85º in the house), so that wasn’t going to happen. Many recipes also called for cherry tomatoes. That’s going to get in the way of the flavor, so skip that. Get out a serrated knife and a glass of lemonade to stave off the sweat as you chop up these ingredients. Here’s how it works:

Ground Cherry Salsa – pulled from memory because we can’t find the dang recipe online anymore

Ingredients

• 2 cups ground cherries, halved
• 1/4-1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 Anaheim chile, diced (the recipe called for bell pepper, but we prefer Anaheims every time)
• 1 Jalapeño pepper, diced (we used a Fish pepper)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. honey
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• Salt to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Refrigerate to meld flavors for at least an hour.

Fish peppers have tremendous flavor with medium heat. We really liked the additional depth of flavor it provided for this recipe. Get out your favorite tortilla chips and dig in!