It's hard to believe September is just around the corner. With Labor Day coming up, here's a great side dish to bring to your end-of-summer pool parties and BBQs. I actually made and served this salsa at a party I hosted last weekend, and many people left asking me for the recipe. Well, here it is!
Colette's Restaurant-Style Salsa
What makes a salsa "restaurant-style" in my mind? For one thing, freshness. Ripe tomatoes and hand-squeezed lime juice are a party in your mouth, unlike canned/preserved salsas from a jar. (Don't get me wrong -- I'll eat pretty much any kind of salsa all the time. But fresh is best). Another thing is that it tends to be less chunky -- it's pureed, not chopped. That's how I make mine.
Ingredients
This is only some of what I used, thought what is pictured above is enough for an awesome salsa! |
Four (4) large, ripe tomatoes
Three (3) small limes
One (1) whole jalapeno
One (1) jalapeno, seeds removed*
Two (2) tablespoons chopped white onion
1/4 cup chopped red onion
Two (2) tablespoons cilantro leaves (pre-chopped is fine)
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Tools
Knife
Cutting Board
Food Processor (small)
Directions
(1) Gather and prep all of your ingredients. You can choose to chop a whole onion yourself or be lazy like me and buy the pre-chopped kind from Henry's. *wink* Make sure as you chop one jalapeno, the seeds stay inside, and on the other, you remove all the seeds.
Why de-seed a jalapeno? Most of the spice in peppers comes from the seeds inside. While the flesh of jalapenos is also spicy, removing the seeds will take the heat down a notch. Now, I like my salsa flaming hot, so I'd normally use 2-3 whole jalapenos. But like I said, this was for a party, and I wanted to please a lot of palates.
(2) Add some of the ingredients to the food processor. I don't mean just pick and choose -- I mean add a little bit of each ingredient that you have. This will allow everything to blend better. Start with about 1/3 of each ingredient that you have chopped/prepped (tomatoes, jalapeno, onions, cilantro). Squeeze the juice from one lime over the ingredients:
(3) Pulse/chop for one minute. Repeat until all the ingredients are blended together:
That's it! Smooth and spicy, it's perfect for any party.
Enjoy!
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