Fresh Salsa

Spring is upon us and I'm starting to see locally grown hothouse tomatoes show up in the grocery stores. When the temperatures rise, my taste buds begin to yearn for cold, crisp flavors and one of my favorite summer snacks is an ice cold bowl of fresh salsa. To me, fresh salsa and frozen margaritas exemplify the taste of summer. Sure, you can just pop open a jar of Pace picante sauce and it'll taste fine, but when fresh tomatoes are abundant and inexpensive, why not make it yourself?  

There is no shortage of salsa recipes out there and I've tried many variations. I've tried roasting, par-boiling and grilling the veggies, mixing some raw with the cooked ones and adding fruit like peaches or pineapple. I've tried all kinds of combinations of tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, onions, fruits and spices. But I keep coming back to a recipe that my best friend Jenny first turned me on to decades ago. This is a fresh salsa, nothing is roasted or cooked in any way and I love that bright, fresh, summery flavor.

The three main ingredients are tomatoes, onion and peppers. Most of the tricks that make this salsa great I picked up from Jenny. According to her, this salsa is best when the tomatoes are firm and slightly less ripe than if you were using them for a salad or sandwich. Save the perfect, ripe tomatoes for BLT's and use the less perfect or inexpensive ones for salsa. The other important tip she passed along is to strain everything of its excess water before combining the ingredients. This makes for a much less diluted and much more flavorful salsa.

FRESH SALSA:

6 slightly under-ripe medium sized tomatoes
1/2 a medium sized white onion
1 Poblano or Anaheim chili pepper
1-2 jalapenos, depending on your taste
1 large lime
Cumin, cayenne, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste

The strength and heat of this salsa is dependent on how spicy the chilies are. To determine how much to use, cut the top off one of the jalapenos and touch the tip of your tongue to the cut side of the top of the pepper. Most of the heat of the pepper is carried in the white, soft ribs inside. If your eyes water and you begin to choke, you can remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapeno and just use half. Poblano peppers can also be quite hot, so test that one too. I like my salsa to have a kick, but I don't want it to be so hot that my lips go numb after two bites. It's also important to remember that the spice level will be muted once the salsa has chilled. Again, it all depends on your personal taste. 

Cut the onion and chilies into large pieces and put them into the food processor with the metal chopping blade. Blend the onions and chilies in the food processor until they are finely chopped, but not pulverized. Some texture is important and I like to see pieces of onion and pepper in the salsa. Scoop this mixture into a strainer, sprinkle a little salt on it and let it drain over the sink. The salt will help pull moisture out of the onion. Press on the onion and pepper mixture with a spatula to squeeze out the excess juices and when no more juice comes out, put the mixture into a large bowl. Another great trick Jenny showed me is to grate the tomatoes rather than chopping them. This gives the salsa more of a chunky texture. Take the metal blade out of your food processor and use the grating attachment to process the tomatoes. Once they're grated, you'll see how much water is in those tomatoes. Dump the grated tomatoes into the strainer and stir them vigorously to make sure you get most of the water out. The more water you can extract from the tomatoes, the less diluted your salsa will be. When you get them sufficiently drained, add them to the bowl with the onions and peppers.

Now comes the fun part, spicing and flavoring. I like my salsa on the tart side, so I squeeze the entire lime into it. If you like your salsa less tart, use half the lime. Add the cumin, cayenne, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste. Some people really like cilantro in their salsa, but this is another ingredient that will change the flavor over time. The longer it sits, the sweeter the cilantro becomes. I have found that adding cilantro to the salsa at this stage makes for a sweet salsa within 24 hours. Also, my husband doesn't like it and says it tastes like soap to him. I recommend saving the cilantro for garnish. Cover the finished salsa and stick it in the fridge. It gets better with time, but you can enjoy an ice cold bowl of salsa after a few hours in the fridge. Try this recipe with a frozen margarita on a hot summer day and I guarantee you won't be disappointed.