When there are a great many ripe tomatoes knocking around your kitchen, you tend to think salsa. So it went on a recent afternoon when a go with my chef's knife at those tomatoes, then onions, garlic, green pepper, jalapeño peppers, and cilantro, mixed with lime juice and salt and cumin, turned out eight pints of canned salsa for the larder. This makes you feel quite rich seeing those jars there, like jewels on a shelf.
But, maybe even more exciting that day than the bounty on the shelves, was the tailings left behind that wouldn't quite make another batch for the canner. This meant fresh salsa(!!) for immediate consumption, and believe me, immediate consumption is a very accurate description, given what transpired.
This salsa is the kind that will make you either dance with wild joy or weep with sheer affection, given your emotional tendency that day. It will, most definitely, make you fall deeply in love. Once, a friend of mine, upon tasting it for the first time, said with earnest emotion, "I could drink this salsa for breakfast."
It couldn't be more accurately said.
After the five of us had descended on the bowl with fists full of tortilla chips for scooping, and all that was left was the tantalizing salsa liquor, I did just that, even though it was far beyond breakfast.
Fresh Tomato Salsa
6-8 Roma tomatoes, chopped
6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow or red onion, chopped
1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
12-16 stems and leaves fresh cilantro, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped fine (remove membrane and seeds for less heat)
1 fresh lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow flavors to mingle. Serve with tortilla chips. Yield: Approximately 4 cups.
Edited to add: This recipe is for fresh salsa only. It hasn't been tested for safety for canning. If you're interested, the canned recipe I followed is right over here. No review, yet, on how we like it.
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