Wanna Salsa?

So maybe I don’t know how to do the dance, but I’ve been making salsa like crazy here today. The last batch I made was gone so quickly it didn’t even get to see a jar. This time I’m making it while only the Sweet Pea and I are home so maybe I will be able to can some for later in the year. I made 6 pints and 4 half-pints before I ran out of tomatoes. I can't believe I actually ran out, but I know in a few days there will be plenty more out there to pick. Yum.

I’ve never made salsa before this year but I’m pretty pleased with how it’s turning out. Fresh salsa just tastes so much better than anything you can buy in a store and it’s nice to know exactly what we are eating. You can’t beat that.

In honor of my happiness with making my own salsa I’m going to share my recipe with you. Keep in mind this is the first year I’ve ever made salsa, but everyone around here seems to like it pretty well. The thing I like about this recipe is that it doesn’t make a huge batch so I can make it as I have ingredients and just use it fresh or make a couple batches and can it. I remember my grandmother making salsa when I was a kid and they were huge batches. I remember quart jars filled with salsa everywhere and for some reason I remember her making it on the stove. I'll have to see if my grandpa knows where her recipe might be. I don't necessarily want to make huge batches but maybe she only did that because there were always so many tomatoes from my grandpa's garden. This batch is also nice because I'm able to make a batch for each individual so I can make each batch just the way they would like it. My dad, for instance, likes his salsa about ten times hotter than the Hubby does. The recipe I’m posting isn’t overly hot so you can spice it up to suit your taste.

*Disclaimer: The peppers are HOT! You might want to wear gloves when messing with them. If you don’t wear gloves when you make the salsa and then go take your contacts out and begin to feel like your eyes are going to burn out of your head, it’s not my fault. I warned you. Don’t ask how I know this.

Ingredients:
24 oz Chopped fresh tomatoes (I’m sure you can use canned if you don’t have fresh)

½ Cup Chopped White Onion

2 Jalapeño Peppers Seeded and Chopped

1/3 Cup Fresh Cilantro

3-4 Cloves of Garlic

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar

Juice from ½ a small lime

First things first make sure all your produce is washed and clean. Then chop and measure out your tomatoes and onions and put in a fairly large bowl (I took the picture before the onions, sorry). I keep my tomatoes in fairly large pieces, I like chunky salsa. You can cut yours any size you want. See how easy this is?

Next cut the top off of your jalapeño and then slice it in half. Scoop the seeds out with a spoon. Chop them into small pieces and add to your bowl. Here is where another variation can come in. When I make this for myself I dice my jalapeños up into tiny little pieces because although I like the flavor I don’t want to bite into a huge piece. For my dad’s however I use large pieces and add some cayenne peppers too. When I make it for my FIL I don’t use jalapeño at all, instead he likes banana peppers.

Next dice up your garlic and cilantro then add it in. I usually put mine into my small food processor just to save time. I also put my jalapeños in there too when I’m making it for myself just to save time.

Now add your salt, vinegar and lime juice. Mix well and dig in.

In that last step the measurements are really just a guideline. Actually the entire recipe is just a guideline. I usually just add everything until I think it looks and tastes right and it varies from day to day. I had to measure everything out today just so I could post this for you. If you have a large food processor you could probably do everything in there, especially if you didn’t want it very chunky. I would definitely do the tomatoes separately though so everything else gets a chance to get chopped well. I’m sure it would be a lot faster than chopping everything by hand. It makes about 1 ½ pints if you are going to put it in jars. I’m going to process mine for about 10 minutes in my water bath canner. I’ve yet to actually can any of it but from what I’ve seen on other salsa recipes this should be about right.

I’m going to make a few batches later this week with some roasted peppers instead of just fresh. That should be great. I’ll keep you posted. Hope you enjoy the salsa, if you try it out let me know what you think.