Harvard Kennedy School graduate and Cambridge resident Shadiah D. Sigala is one of the 15 finalists in an online competition to win a chance to appear on The Next Food Network Star (vote for her video here).  When we asked this local YouTube cooking star for a dorm-friendly recipe, here's what she suggested:

It pains my heart to see how expensive fresh salsa is at the grocery store. The thing is, most people don’t know just how EASY and inexpensive it is to make salsa from scratch. Here’s my no-fuss recipe. It’s perfect for the study/procrastination session.  If you try doubling or tripling the batch, you can serve it at your next party. Since all the ingredients are fresh and you’ll use them all up at once, you don’t have to worry about leftovers laying around the dorm kitchen. Also, all you need is a knife, chopping board and bowl. Voila.

2 tomatoes (any variety)

1 small red or white onion

1 fresh jalapeno or serrano pepper

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 limes

Dash of salt

1 bag of tortilla chips

1) Chop your veggies.

Dice up tomatoes, onion, pepper and cilantro to about the same size, depending on how chunky you want your salsa.

2) Season.

Squeeze in the lime juice. Season with salt to taste.

3) Enjoy!

Dip your chips into the salsa and enjoy the FRESH party in your mouth!

You can read more about Sigala in this article.

Photo courtesy of Shadiah D. Sigala.