Fresh Cilantro-filled Salsa

I usually make my salsa from scratch unless I'm feeling lazy. I have always just followed a general pattern and substituted as necessary - as long as you have some kind of fruit base (tomatoes and mango are my usual ones, but I've also done this with cucumber or strawberries), plenty of lime or lemon juice, fresh herbs (cilantro is my fave, but I've used parsley/chives in a pinch), and salt and pepper then it will probably be yummy.

Ingredients 

(open to interpretations, listed in order of most to least important)

• maybe about 1-2 cups of finely diced tomatoes (or mango, or...) ... I'm not sure about the quantity
• juice of 1/2 to 1 whole lime or lemon (I prefer lime)
• generous quantity of salt and black pepper
• 1/4-1/2 bunch cilantro (or parsley/chives if need be)
• about 1-2 tbs very finely diced shallot, red onion, or regular onion 
• 1/2 - 1 clove garlic, minced (this adds a little spiciness)
• some amount of jalapeno or hotter pepper, diced very finely with or without seeds (adjust to your spice tolerance from none to a lot - I usually do none or about 1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed)
• optional additions I don't normally make, but you could:
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• pinch of chili powder
• diced peppers
• chopped avocado (I prefer to just make some guacamole separately most of the time)
• tabasco sauce

Method

1. Mix the above ingredients together in a smallish bowl
2. Taste and adjust seasonings.. if it's missing something, consider adding more salt

REMEMBER: If you have a bottle of hot sauce on hand, you can make the salsa on the milder side and let those who want more heat add the hot sauce to their serving (more kid-/crowd-friendly this way)