Homemade Salsa

I make homemade salsa almost every week because (most of us) LOVE it at our house. Our family and friends refer to it at "Jamie's salsa" just because I always seem to have some around - to serve to people at our house, or to bring when we're going out. But I can't actually take credit for the original recipe since I got it first from my mother-in-law who got it from someone else...

But I have tweaked it a little bit to make it more "mine" I guess :)

The first thing that makes salsa-making so easy at our house is this baby:


This food processor was a wedding gift (from the Toews aunts/uncles, I think?) but it sat in the box for the first year or 2. But then I learned that it could shred my cheese and slice my potatoes... And then of course when it came time to make baby food, my appreciation deepened.

But its most common use at our house is salsa-making.

First I use about 5-6 medium size tomatoes. I personally like these hot house "on-the-vine" tomatoes.

I don't know why. I just do.


Next comes the red onion. Regular onion works too, but red onion is definitely superior. I use about a third of a medium size onion.


The third ingredient is cilantro. I cut up just a small handful and off it goes into the mix.


Then comes the pepper. I use these smaller ones - about the size of my finger. I'm not sure if these are called jalapeno peppers or chile peppers. Anyone know?
As you can see, I use a very small amount - about 1/4 or even a 1/5 of the whole pepper. I chop up my little piece quite small so I don't end up with any big chunks in the mix.


Recently I've started throwing in 2 or 3 cloves of garlic to add to the flavour - also chopped up to avoid chunks.


Then comes the last ingredient - a squirt of lime. I use about 1/4 lime squeezed over top. Luckily, I have a handy little lime squeezer that I brought home from Peru :)




Ready for mixing!




Don't skip this next important step: Taste-testing!




So delicious by itself, but if you're in for an even better treat, we can easily turn this salsa into guacamole.


Scoop the middle out of a soft, ripe avocado with a spoon and mash it up. The best technique I've found is on a plate with a fork. Looks appetizing, hey?


Then mix in with desired amount of salsa and you have instant guacamole!




Plus, now you're half-way to a delicious meal! Just fry up some ground beef or turkey, shred some cheese and lettuce and you've got tacos for supper :)