Salsa Fresca

We recently acquired a food processor. The first thing we made was salsa fresca. This is such a simple, easy recipe and the food processor makes it even easier. Don’t fret if you don’t have a food processor, it’s still very easy to do the old fashioned way as well.

Fresh Ingredients
The key to the best results in this recipe is to have the freshest ingredients! We’ve found a great farmer’s market here in Houston that has several vendors with locally grown, fresh and ripe ingredients. It’s call the Bayou City Farmers’ Market. You can find local farmers’ markets anywhere in the US at LocalHarvest.org. If you’re into organic and foods containing no hormones there’s lots of resources there for you as well.

Food Processor
The food processor makes chopping things like onions, bell peppers and jalapenos very easy and not so tear-inducing. We still dice the tomatoes by hand so that the nice, ripe tomatoes don’t get crushed in the food processor. If your using a food processor it’s perfectly acceptable to chop the onions, bell peppers and jalapenos together. It just starts the melding process early.

Trick Your Salsa!
You can customize the chunkiness and spiciness of the salsa to your liking. If you chopeverything finely you’ll ended up with a soupier salsa. Conversely, if you make it chunky it will be thicker. If you like hot salsa then put all of the jalapeno seeds in where the recipe calls for the seeds of just one. Personally, I like it real hot, but my wife likes medium heat. If you really want to kick it up a notch throw a Serrano pepper into the mix! Also, in Texas is quite common to find cilantro in salsa. This could give it a fresh crisp flavor addition.

The Recipe
Makes 4 12 oz. Canning Jars

Ingredients:
2 cups tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup white onion, chopped (about 1/2 a normal size onion)
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped (remove all seeds)
2 jalapenos, chopped (include seeds of only one)
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar (this doesn’t flavor the salsa but offsets the vinegar)
1/2 tbsp. parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground coriander seeds
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

Instructions:
1. Mix all ingredient is open mixing bowl.
2. Cover with cloth and let stand for 24-36 hours. If you put the salsa in the refrigerator right away the melding process of the various flavors is hindered.
3. Serve with chips or use in cooking.
4. Place leftover salsa in canning jars for storage in refrigerator.

This makes for a great dip and is also great to cook into ground beef or any other dish where salsa is called for. It’s a great summer time snack and great gifts for the salsa lovers you know.

Enjoy!
- The Fortunate Foodie