Peach, Corn and Hatch Green Chile Salsa

Peach, corn and hatch green chiles all folded into one beautiful bowl of salsa! If there is one recipe you make from my blog this summer, let it be this one. It comes together fast and is incredibly versatile (see below for serving suggestions). The best part is that is so fresh and beautiful, it makes for a great appetizer – a nice change from the more traditional corn/bean/tomato salsas out there.

I alluded to this recipe in my IG story after hitting up the farmer’s market last weekend because the three star ingredients are all total Colorado specialities during this time of year. After mixing them all together, the result is sweet and spicy with a little bit of added texture and freshness from the corn. I know you will love it!

First, let’s talk about those PEACHES.

Of course any peaches will suffice here, but I specifically used Palisade Peaches which are grown on the Western Slope (in a town called Palisade) about 15 miles from Grand Junction. These things are EVERYTHING and everyone goes totally bananas for them. 

There is even a Palisade peach festival which takes place in mid-August every year. People buy boxes of these things to take back to preserve, use in baked goods or just eat straight up. Luckily, they are also available at the local grocery stores and they sell like crazy. It’s definitely one of the most iconic foods here (in addition to beer and Rocky Mountain Oysters I suppose… we’ll save that for another post). 

Hatch green chiles are actually grown in a place called Hatch.

I actually didn’t realize it until I started writing this post, but the true “Hatch” chile name actually refers to the location where it was grown in New Mexico. There are similar varieties grown in Pueblo, Colorado but they are technically just “fire-roasted green chiles”. I love the slight amount of heat these add to the salsa to balance out the sweetness from the peach. 

According to this site, Hatch green chiles are a relative of the Anaheim chile. They are traditionally fire-roasted and peeled which produces a wonderful fiery flavor. These give off quite the aroma when roasted. You can always smell them at the local markets and they are hard to pass up. 

Lastly, a total summer favorite no matter where you live – corn, straight from the cob. 

Olathe Corn season is another highly anticipated time in Colorado. It’s hard to beat a good cob of corn that’s just barely cooked and smeared with butter. In this recipe I decided to keep it raw because it’s so darn fresh (and let’s be real, so I didn’t have to turn on the grill). I’m sure it would be amazing if you gave it a little bit of char first too.

As with most things in my cooking repertoire, my finishing touch was a healthy handful of cilantro and the juice from a lime. This is so incredibly easy – there’s literally one step once you have everything out and prepped. Mix it up.

To keep things simple, plate it up with some tortilla chips. For a dinner option, spoon it over a piece of grilled salmon or trout. You could also use it as a burrito bowl topping which I’m hugely in favor of because it adds a fun twist to something really basic (this is pretty much my kitchen mantra in a nutshell). Regardless, give it a whirl before all of this luscious produce is gone for the year!

Planning to make this recipe? Be sure to let me know by posting a photo on Instagram and tagging me (@LeanneRayRDN) so I can see your creations! I would love to feature you on my feed.