Salsa: How do we love you? Let us count the ways...

Who doesn’t love Chips and Salsa?  It's one of our favorite food groups. I had tried, in the past, to make salsa that compared to restaurant salsa but was continually disappointed.  Then in 2003 I was on a retreat with some women and my dear friend Catherine made this Salsa, and Eureka! …this was it!  It became a favorite and through the years has become a staple in our kitchen.  I have been contemplating when to post about this salsa, and several friends, who make the recipe, have suggested I post it.  However, I have been waiting for just the right time.  I decided that this was the week.  It is Bowl Game watching time (though, personally,  I am much more interested in watching the bowl of chips that any other kind of bowl), New Year’s Celebrating and winter days that beckon for a spicy, bowl of tastiness.

Some of the reasons we love this salsa are:

the fresh stuff

·      It can be made year round! Because it is made with canned tomatoes, it doesn’t depend on summer garden tomatoes (but you’d never know it).

·      It makes a large batch! You’ll be glad.

·      It is easy to make.

·      It ramps up Dave’s egg white wrap in the morning, which evokes exclamations from him!

·      The flavor is complex and fresh and delicious.

·      It is healthy! (How could something this yummy be so healthy?)

·      It can be made-to-your-liking.  You can tweak the heat, size of chunks, tartness, and flavor (by varying the quantities of the ingredients).

 

Salsa

chopping

2 cans Del Monte ORIGINAL stewed tomatoes

1 can Rotel, original

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 green onions, chopped

20 + cilantro leaves

the juice and pulp of 1 lime

a couple of dashes of Tabasco (more if you like HOT)

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

½ tsp cumin (ground cumin seed)

juicing...kinda

½ tsp kosher salt (or table salt)

Place all in a food processor and pulse several times, to desired consistency.

Keeps 10 days or so in the refrigerator.

(I like it best when first made and at room temp)

juicing

scraping out the pulp

the ever-important testing step

One tip to keep in mind- if you are buying your green onions and cilantro from the grocery, you will have more than 3 times the amount you will need for the recipe. So, you might plan other recipes that call for these ingredients in the week that you are making the salsa.  You can also go ahead and buy enough of the other ingredients to make a second batch.  My friend, Melissa B. and I have a practice of sharing some of the onions and cilantro we have leftover with each other so that they don’t go to waste.  I love this quality in a friend- the produce-sharing quality.  She taught me this great tip for extending the life of greens...to lay them onto paper towels and loosely wrap them, then store in a large ziplock bag.

place flat on paper towels

Cover with more paper towels and gently roll

like this

Happy End-of-the-Year!  Celebrate with Homemade Salsa.