Salsa recipes seem to be a matter of fierce debate–everyone thinks they’ve got the best around. I take mine pretty seriously as well. It’s basically a family recipe, although everyone in my family makes their salsa just slightly differently. I use a blender…mostly because I don’t own a food processor. Either will work, although I suspect that the blender works slightly better because it funnels everything down towards the blades.
Here’s my awesome salsa recipe–feel free to change amounts/ingredients. This will turn out as about a 6 out of 10 on the spicy scale. If you like spicy things, it’s just hot enough so that you can still eat a lot, but if you’re not a spicy foods person you may want to take out the seeds of the serranos or use another pepper (jalapenos are less spicy but have a similar flavor). The flavor is delicious, so even without spicy it’s still awesome.
- 1 large can, whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 small can green chilis (or 3 fresh roasted)
- 1/2 white or red onion
- 2 serrano chilis
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 large bunch cilantro, about 1/2 cup diced
- Lime juice (substitute lemon)
- salt
Start by draining and reserving the liquid from the tomatoes. Add the garlic and chilis (cut in big chunks) to the blender, with a few spoonfuls of tomato liquid. Blend very thoroughly, until garlic and serranos are turned to mush. DO NOT BREATHE NEAR THE OPEN BLENDER. It is extemely painful and will cause sneezing/coughing/burning eyes.
Add tomatoes, a large pinch of salt, one tablespoon of lime juice, and rough chop the onions into about 1/2 inch chunks. Pulse the blender and stir the tomatoes down if you need to–you don’t want liquified goo salsa. Chop the cilantro very fine and add the green chilis (dice if using fresh). Pulse the blender until everything has just been combined–less than five seconds. Taste and adjust salt and lime for desired seasoning. Add a few tablespoons of the tomato liquid if it’s too thick. Enjoy with chips or served over your meal. Yum!
Pretty good… but mine’s better! (smile)