Physalis

Kinda sounds like some sort of disease, huh?  The little beauties are also known as ground cherries even though they're not cherry colored - they're yellowy / orange.  They look very much like a yellow or orange cherry tomato but a bit smaller.  In fact, that's what I mistook them for.  If you know what these are, you're asking yourself, "how could you have mistaken them for tomatoes"?  I know, I know, they come packaged in their own little cocoon of green leaves but I just wasn't thinking.  I grabbed a half pint of grape tomatoes and they were right beside them so I grabbed those as well.  I was making orzo and thought the yellow color would be pretty.  Once I sliced it open, I immediately realized it was no kind of tomato.  I touched a half on my tongue and didn't know what to do with it.  They're very aromatic and almost sweet in a savory sort of way.  It took me awhile to find them on the internet because since I'd just grabbed them thinking they were tomatoes, I didn't look at the name.  I found that they are used for baking and I guess because of the name ground cherries, they're mostly used in cherry pies as the fruit filling.  I couldn't get my head around that idea so I kept searching and found that a few people used them in salsa.  I bolted to the kitchen and started dicing.  I took that half pint and finely diced them along with that half pint of grape tomatoes that I didn't dice quite as small.  You know how to make salsa - some onions, garlic, cilantro, a touch of oil, a pinch of salt, a dash of lime juice and a chili or two.  I stirred it, dunked a chip in and WOW, my new favorite thing!  I've made it again since that time a couple of weeks ago.  They really give a whole new dimension to salsa - a freshness even.  Maybe I will some day make a pie out of them.  Hmm, I wonder what they're like roasted?  So many more things to try with these little babies.  Give them a shot and let me know what you think of them!

Here's an image I grabbed from the web to give you an idea of what to look for: