I planted my garden a little late this year, so my tomatoes are just getting ripe now. My husband loves tomatoes in any form, in any dish. As for me, the ONE food I don’t like is plain raw tomatoes. I keep them off my sandwiches and salads. Every other preparation is fine with me – ketchup, tomato sauce, anything with cooked tomatoes – and especially salsa! And while I like raw tomato salsas a lot, I like this Roasted Chipotle Salsa even better!
Chiptole peppers in adobo sauce are easy to find – just check your local grocery store in the “ethnic” aisle with all the other Mexican food. They’re cheap, and they are nearly pickled in the adobo sauce, so once you open the little can, you can keep the rest of the peppers and sauce in a small container in your fridge for months. (A little Ball jar, or leftover jelly jar, is perfect for this.) Then, if you find you love the smoky, mild heat of chipotles, use some of the others in your jar to make this dinner salad. If you can’t find fresh cilantro at your store, you can leave it out, but it really adds a burst of freshness to this spicy sauce!
This recipe made a little more than a cup for me. That said, my husband and I ate it all in one night! It was “taco” night at our house, but we were using lettuce leaves instead of taco shells. Ground beef with onions, avocado slices, and this salsa – delish!
Roasted Chipotle Salsa
Ingredients:
- 3 regular-sized ripe tomatoes (around 1/2 pound, or a little more)
- 1/2 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- salt
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (or more if you like it spicy!)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- small handful cilantro, about half a cup
- 1/2 lime or lemon
Directions:
- Preheat oven to Broil. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Slice the tomatoes in half, removing any core or stem you don’t like. Slice the onion into rounds. Peel and smash the garlic cloves. Lay these out on the baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Season with salt.
- Broil the vegetables until they start turning brown and are very juicy – about 8-10 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove from the oven. Pour the vegetables and any juices into a food processor. Add in the cumin, chipotle pepper, cilantro, and hit start. Process for a few seconds, then squeeze in the lime juice. Process again – leave it chunky! Taste for seasoning – maybe more salt or lime? Process again until you reach your desired consistency. I like mine to still have some texture and not be a puree. Refrigerate until ready to use. Tortilla chips, burritos, enchiladas – even over scrambled eggs – this stuff is yummy!
Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana
To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!
