Your Mama’s Salsa

No really.

The salsa I’m making here is my go to recipe. It’s likely the same kind of salsa your mama made, if your mama made salsa. I think the success of this recipe lies in its simplicity. There’s a great depth of flavor thanks to the roasting of a few ingredients, and brightness due to the onion, lime, and cilantro. I get a lot of compliments on this recipe. It's super easy and great to take to potlucks.

Now that I've hyped this salsa up, let’s get to it.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (5-6 Reg or 10-11 Roma)

2 Jalapenos

3 Garlic Cloves

1 medium yellow onion

1 bunch of cilantro

1 lime

Salt, to taste

Canola Oil (approx. ½ tbsp.)

Place tomatoes, jalapenos, and garlic in an oven safe dish. Toss with oil. I've estimated the oil here. Really, a little goes a long way. You want just enough to coat everything.

Roast for 20 minutes, until the skin begins to blister and peels off easily. If the skin hasn't begun to separate from the tomato, leave in the oven longer. Ideally you don't want to go longer than 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cooled, peel skin off of tomatoes and jalapenos. Add tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic, juice of the lime, and salt to a food processor. Blend until smooth. You may have to do this in 2 batches due to the capacity of your food processor. Make sure to taste once

blended, this is your opportunity to add more lime or salt, depending on your taste. You may also want to start with one jalapeno in your mixture and then taste for heat level. Some jalapenos are spicier than others and you never know what you're going to get. If you are anti-spicy, after you peel the skin off of the jalapeno, slice the jalapeno length wise, and remove all of the seeds and ribs before

blending in the food processor. The flip side is also true; feel free to add more jalapeno if you want it really spicy, but I find two works for most people. I like the flavor of the jalapeno, but serrano peppers work here too.

While you're waiting for everything to cool, it's best to dice your onion and cilantro. I prefer a finer dice. I use the entire onion and the full bunch of cilantro. Once diced, throw both into a bowl. Go for a medium to medium/large bowl. This makes a lot of salsa.

Once your tomato mix is blended, add to the onion and cilantro bowl. Mix. Done.

Eat with chips.

Add to anything and everything.

Tip: My grandmother has always told me that you only want to use wooden spoons when mixing or scooping your salsa, so it won't get watery. I don't know if it's true, but why chance it? Use a wooden spoon.

Tip 2: Keep covered, in the refrigerator. I'd say it lasts about a week, but I don't know since we've never had any left on day 7.

Enjoy!

Easy Summer Salad

Before you say anything, I know... a blog post about salad?

Easy, you say? What's easier than a bagged salad and ready made dressing?

I get it. Really I do. There are some days where I tear up lettuce, add thousand island dressing and proclaim it as my salad. And that's ok. If that's how you like your salad, it's wonderful, I like it that way too.

But, if you're feeling fancy, or you want a change, or you're hosting a dinner party and want to impress, I cannot stress to you how delicious and easy this salad is. It's crispy, crunchy, chewy, soft, sweet, tangy - it has it all!

 

Ingredients

Spinach

Romaine Lettuce

Raspberries

Craisins

Slivered Almonds

 

Dressing

Canola Oil

Apple Cider Vinegar

Honey

 

I started this salad, by soaking my spinach. Spinach tends to be gritty and that's not something I want to eat, so I let the spinach soak for a minute, rinse it, and soak again. Let it soak while you prepare the rest. Grab a small pan and add your almonds. No oil, no spices, no nothing. You'll want to pay close attention so the almonds don't burn. Toasting the almonds deepens their flavor and makes them taste nuttier. They are delicious. They also burn easily (this is so important, I mentioned it twice). Move them around pretty constantly. I trust my nose to tell when they're done. If you're not comfortable using that method, look for them to be lightly toasted (light brown in color) or about 7-8 minutes if toasting on medium low.

The next thing I did was make my dressing. This was a lot of trial and error for me, and this is the combination that I liked the most. You can adjust the quantities based on the flavors you like most. Want it sweeter? Add more honey. Want it more tangy? Add more apple cider vinegar. Back to the trial and error. The husband and I went to a dinner last year and we had a spinach, strawberry, feta salad with a sweet, creamy dressing that I was obsessed with trying to recreate. And I never did. I can't quite get it, but that's ok, because in trying to make that, I have this simple fix. Ready for it? Add 1 teaspoon of each: canola oil, apple cider vinegar, honey. Mix. Done. It's sweet and slightly tangy and fantastic with fresh summer fruit.

Next, drain spinach. Rinse the spinach and your romaine lettuce. Spin to dry. I love our salad spinner and recommend it highly. Last thing you do is assemble. I toss the spinach and romaine with dressing in the bowl. I use about half of the dressing. Then top with the raspberries, craisins, and almonds.

 

Done.

 

A few notes: I didn't add quantities, because you could add as much or as little as you want. Really like raspberries? Add a bunch. I will say that half of the dressing was more than enough for about 2 cups of spinach and romaine.

I love this salad because you can mix and match fruits and nuts based on your taste or what's in season. Some ideas:

Almonds with blueberries or cherries.

Pecans with apples or peaches.

Walnuts with apples or pears.

 

 

Let me know if you make it and what combo you used.