One of healthiest herbs that you can include in your diet is fresh cilantro. Abundant in chlorophyll, iron, and a wide variety of phytonutrients, fresh cilantro provides protection against a wide spectrum of diseases, and may even protect you against a buildup of heavy metals.

In my book, there's no better way to enjoy the lovely fragrance and health benefits of fresh cilantro than through a homemade salsa.

Here are the ingredients that you'll need to make mouthwatering, cilantro-rich salsa that you and your loved ones will want to eat all day long.

That's a large bunch of fresh cilantro, about five small tomatoes, one large sweet bell pepper, a small bunch of spring (green) onions, half a lemon, and about three to four cloves of garlic.

Combine all ingredients in a good food processor or a strong blender, add a good pinch of sea salt and pepper, then pulse blend until you reach your desired consistency.

Just be sure to give the tomatoes a rough chop and add them to the processor or blender first to release some tomato juices to aid in blending the rest of the ingredients.

If you prefer a chunkier salsa, go easy with the blending or forget the blender and use a knife to chop everything up.

To add natural sweetness to your salsa, try adding small chunks of fresh, ripe mango.

For some richness and added texture, you can't go wrong with small chunks of creamy avocado.

And if you're like my mom or aunt and you like to sniffle while you enjoy your salsa, add some chilies to the mix before blending or chopping.

No matter how you do it, once you give homemade salsa a try, my guess is that you'll have a hard time going back to store-bought varieties that taste more like tomato sauce than the real thing. And if you're sure to add a fresh bunch of cilantro, you'll acquire serious protection against premature disease with every mouthful.

If you have a favorite salsa recipe or ingredient that you've been keeping under wraps, please consider sharing with the rest of us via the comments section below. :) Thank you.