Cheap home-made salsa

[GymLift]

Let me start by saying that I'm sure that using fresh tomatoes is superior to this recipe. But when you eat as much as I do, the time and cost involved in using fresh tomatoes can really add up. And what I list here is, IMHO, superior to the salsa that you get at the store.

In summary, this is decent salsa that isn't expensive to make and it can be made quickly.

Ingredients:

1. 1-2 cans of dices or stewed tomatoes (often available on sale for cheap)
2. Perhaps ½ onion. Vidalia onions are available in my area right now and I love 'em, but other onions will do.
3. Fresh cilantro. You can buy a bunch of it at the grocery for cheap.
4. minced or chopped Garlic. I use the stuff in the jar. Cheap and easy, but fresh would be better I'm sure.
5. Slash of lime juice. I consider this optional, but when you keep making batch after batch of salsa, the cost of this comes out to like $0.01.

I open the cans of tomatoes and do my best to drain the water from the can without loosing the tomatoes. I don't bother with a strainer or anything like that.

I dump the tomatoes into a food processor, but a blender could probably be used.

But the onion into a few large chunks (or smaller chunks if you have the time or you don't have the best food processor) and add.

Take 5-25 (whatever you like) cilantro twigs (there is probably a better word than twigs, but I can't think of it) out of the cilantro bunch and rinse. Shake a little to dry. Pull the leaves off of the twigs and add. Sometimes I get lazy and hold a bunch of twigs in one hand and try and pull a bunch of leaves off at once. I often get significant amounts of the green twigs in my salsa as well and hopefully that isn't a problem. It all gets chopped up in the end.

Add garlic. I use the jar and add maybe a tablespoon or two.

A quick slash of lime juice. I have one of those little plastic limes with it right now. Again, I'm sure that fresh lime would be better but I'm cheap.

Set the food processor on the slowest setting and turn on for maybe 10-15 seconds. Just blend it however you want, more or less. I haven't been able to mess it up, yet.

Good on tortilla chips, but I'm trying to minimize that now. Good with tuna. Good with taco salad. Good with eggs. Whatever. It is salsa.

I'll easily go through eight cans of tomatoes on a Saturday making this stuff.

[vagrant]

Sounds good. Add some red chilis, some jalapenos, and some jabenerros to that and it would be perfect.

[berealjohn]

Originally Posted by mranak

Let me start by saying that I'm sure that using fresh tomatoes is superior to this recipe. But when you eat as much as I do, the time and cost involved in using fresh tomatoes can really add up. And what I list here is, IMHO, superior to the salsa that you get at the store.

In summary, this is decent salsa that isn't expensive to make and it can be made quickly.

Ingredients:

1. 1-2 cans of dices or stewed tomatoes (often available on sale for cheap)
2. Perhaps ½ onion. Vidalia onions are available in my area right now and I love 'em, but other onions will do.
3. Fresh cilantro. You can buy a bunch of it at the grocery for cheap.
4. minced or chopped Garlic. I use the stuff in the jar. Cheap and easy, but fresh would be better I'm sure.
5. Slash of lime juice. I consider this optional, but when you keep making batch after batch of salsa, the cost of this comes out to like $0.01.

I open the cans of tomatoes and do my best to drain the water from the can without loosing the tomatoes. I don't bother with a strainer or anything like that.

I dump the tomatoes into a food processor, but a blender could probably be used.

But the onion into a few large chunks (or smaller chunks if you have the time or you don't have the best food processor) and add.

Take 5-25 (whatever you like) cilantro twigs (there is probably a better word than twigs, but I can't think of it) out of the cilantro bunch and rinse. Shake a little to dry. Pull the leaves off of the twigs and add. Sometimes I get lazy and hold a bunch of twigs in one hand and try and pull a bunch of leaves off at once. I often get significant amounts of the green twigs in my salsa as well and hopefully that isn't a problem. It all gets chopped up in the end.

Add garlic. I use the jar and add maybe a tablespoon or two.

A quick slash of lime juice. I have one of those little plastic limes with it right now. Again, I'm sure that fresh lime would be better but I'm cheap.

Set the food processor on the slowest setting and turn on for maybe 10-15 seconds. Just blend it however you want, more or less. I haven't been able to mess it up, yet.

Good on tortilla chips, but I'm trying to minimize that now. Good with tuna. Good with taco salad. Good with eggs. Whatever. It is salsa.

I'll easily go through eight cans of tomatoes on a Saturday making this stuff.

Mranak how hot is it 1-10? I am totally dumb to making salsa! I like it hot.

[Dave B.]

Originally Posted by berealjohn

Mranak how hot is it 1-10? I am totally dumb to making salsa! I like it hot.

His recipe has no chiles or peppers in it, so on a hotness scale of 1-10, it would be 0.

[GymLift]

Originally Posted by Dave B.

His recipe has no chiles or peppers in it, so on a hotness scale of 1-10, it would be 0.

That's right. I like things a bit spicy, but my intensines do not.

It is salsa. Modify to your own preferences. Add jalapenos or red pepper or hot sauce or whatever you like.

Or just buy something like Del Monte's Petite Cut Diced Tomatoes with Jalapenos. I just made some salsa the other day with Del Month green chilis and even that added a bit of kick.

Please post up how you like to make your salsa.

[Warmachine]

or you could just buy the canned tomatos that have chilis in them. poor mans salsa.

[rocksteady]

sounds great, I'll have to give it a try.

[freakinhuge]

sounds good but I would have to add some jalapenos.