This. Salsa. This salsa! “Some of the best I’ve ever had” said my sweetie.
I picked up these beautiful golden cherry tomatoes from my local Farmers’ Market without a plan—they were just so pretty they had to come home with me. While I wrote the YumUniverse book, I came up with a bunch of quick and easy meal ideas for myself. One of my favorite discoveries is how delicious salsa is used as a salad dressing. Kitchen-sink salads are a go-to for me—cooked legumes, sprouts, greens, radishes, peppers, mushrooms, the works. Then salsa and bam! Lunch or dinner.
I have a really tasty roasted salsa recipe for YU in the book, but I wanted to riff off of that and add some smoky chipotle. I love me some smoky, rich, spicy foods! I highly recommend that you try roasting these tomatoes over the grill this summer for extra incredible flavor—just skewer them kabob-style to easily roast until skin browns gorgeously on all sides.
Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
3 pints of golden cherry tomatoes*
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp chipotle powder (more to taste if you like)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
3/4 cup red onion, diced
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
3/4 tsp fine-ground sea salt
2 tsp unrefined, virgin coconut oil (can sub 2-3 tsp veggie stock instead)
* You can absolutely substitute any tomatoes you like for this recipe as long as the amount called for is equal.
Let’s get started.
1. Preheat oven to 325°F and wash tomatoes well. Or fire up that grill.
2. Slice stems/tops off of cherry tomatoes…
… and place flat-side down onto a baking sheet lined with unbleached parchment paper.
You can easily slice these babies in half if you like, too. Roast for 30 minutes.
3. While tomatoes roast, heat a skillet to medium-high, add 1 tsp of coconut oil, and saute onion for 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 3 more minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Place all ingredients into the food processor (or blender) and pulse until smooth, but slightly chunky. Add water 1 tbsp at a time if you like a more liquid-y salsa.
5. Store in the fridge in an airtight glass jar for up to 4 weeks—if you don’t eat it all first. Enjoy and share.
Try this salsa with:
Non-GMO tortilla chips, grilled veggies tossed with cooked chickpeas or black beans, salads or…
or Mexican Black Bean Burgers.
What is your favorite way to enjoy salsa? Are you a mild, medium or hot salsa lover? Tell us with a comment below!
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