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The Best Ever Fresh Homemade Tomato Salsa
Sometimes tomatoes are all I can think about. I really love tomatoes!
Tomato bisque, tomato salad, tomato sauce, and today . . . tomato salsa. I think I have something with tomatoes in it every single day. You can tell by my recipes, I've been on a tomato kick as of lately due to now growing my own tomato plants.
I had something similar to this recipe back when I was teaching first grade full time and was babysitting at a colleague's house. Boy did she make a mean salsa! I'd also wanted a copy of that recipe.
This is a delicious tomato salsa recipe that's about as close as I could get to my talented friend's so many years ago. I can only hope that this recipe would make her proud. One thing that different from hers was that she kept her chunks really big in her salsa, so you would get big bites of onion, cilantro, tomato, avocado, etc. I was actually really good!
I hope you enjoy this chunky tomato salsa!
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 4-5 medium tomatoes
- 1/2 large red onion
- 1 large jalapeno chili pepper
- 1 large serrano chili pepper
- 1 lime's worth of juice
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 medium green pepper
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- (optional) 1 can black beans, drained
- (optional) 1 large avocado
- (optional) 1 can corn, drained
Instructions
- Cut up all of your tomatoes, skin, seeds and all. The size you chop them is up to you (large or small). I really like them diced small. Place in a large mixing bowl.
- Chop your 1/2 red onion. Once again, the size is up to you. I like mine really small. Add these to your mixing bowl with the tomatoes.
- Chop up your green pepper. You know the drill. Add these to your mixing bowl with the tomatoes and onions.
- Peel, smash and dice up your garlic cloves especially small. You'll thank me for this little bit of advice. You don't want a mouthful of garlic. lol Add to your mixing bowl.
- Chop your 1/2 cup of cilantro (about one bunch) really fine as well. You don't want to get a large piece of this on a chip. Add to your mixing bowl.
- I left the chili pepper for last on purpose. You'll want to wear gloves to do this or be REALLY careful. You will not want to get the juice from either of these peppers on your skin or it will burn, and I mean medical kind of burn.
- In fact, to make it even safer, cup the top off of your jalapeno pepper, slice it in half, and scrape out the seeds. Toss the jalapeno pepper, without the seeds into your food processor.
- Do the same thing with your serrano pepper. (Be really careful especially with this one!) Toss it into your food processor, without the seeds, with your jalapeno pepper. Process them down pretty small. You'll want to save the seeds from both off to the side.
- As you finish with your knife and cutting board, immediately put them into the sink and rinse them with soap and water.
- When finished, scrape them out of the bowl into your mixing bowl. When finished with that spatula, put it immediately in the sink and rinse.
- Add your cumin and your salt and pepper to your mixing bowl, and squeeze your lime into the bowl. Mix everything thoroughly.
- If you salsa is too hot, add more tomato. If it's too mild for you, this is where you can add your pepper seeds a little bit at a time.
- If you decide to use avocados, black beans, or corn, add them before your peppers.
- And voila! Serve with tortilla chips!
Nutritional Information
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1 ounce | |
| Calories | 6 |
| Calories from Fat | 0 |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Fat 0 g | |
| Carbohydrates 1 g | |
| Sugar 1 g | |
| Cholesterol 0 mg | |
| Sodium 135 mg | 6% |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
This is an exceptionally healthy snack for just about anytime during the day, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, parties, and even dinners at guests' houses.
Made with fresh tomatoes, onions, chilies, and fresh herbs. It doesn't get better than this! Think of all of the wonderful vitamins and nutrients you'll be getting from this incredible snack.
To be even healthier, you could make your own whole wheat tortilla chips, corn tortilla chips, or even blue corn chips.
Quick Poll
What would you add to this salsa to make it yours?
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© 2013 Victoria Van Ness
