You can buy a jar of oversalted, cooked, tomato-y salsa off the store shelf, or you can make it fresh at home.
If there’s time, the second option always makes sense to me because the freshest salsas are the best – even if it means hauling out a cast-iron skillet or molcajete, or putting together the food processor or blender.
The payoff is when you dip into it with crispy chips or spoon it over your homemade Tex-Mex.
Creamy Avocado-Tomatillo Salsa
This one is good served with chips, perfect on fish tacos made with fried or grilled fish with shaved cabbage.
Here’s how: Put in a blender 2 peeled, pitted avocados and 1 (7-ounce) can Herdez green tomatillo salsa. Pulse-blend a couple of times, then add the juice of 1 small lime (careful, no seeds!), a small handful of cilantro leaves, a medium-large clove of garlic and 1/2 pint light sour cream. Process well. When smooth, scrape it into a bowl and salt to taste.
Mango Tomato Salsa
This pretty, fresh salsa shows off colors of orange, red and green. The lightly sweet blend of mango, juicy tomato and hot jalapeño is good on grilled chicken, fish or pork chops.
Here’s how: Dice two small mangos and two Roma tomatoes, add 1/2 cup diced sweet onion, 1 minced jalapeno, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro. Add salt; mix all ingredients gently with juice of one lime.
MORE RECIPES
Fresh Tomato Salsa
This all-purpose table salsa is as good for dipping with chips as it is spooned over a cheese omelet. From Bonnie Walker, makes about 2 cups salsa.
Ingredients
3-4 ripe, medium-sized tomatoes
1/4 medium-sized white or yellow onion
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 large or 2 smaller jalapeños, stemmed and seeded, or to taste
1 small clove garlic, peeled
1/4- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (trim off large stems)
Salt, to taste
Directions
Put tomatoes, onion, oil, juice, jalapeños, garlic, cilantro and salt into food processor and pulse until ingredients are finely chopped, but not so much that it becomes foamy. Pour into a bowl and let sit at least a half-hour before serving. Good on grilled steaks, chops, chicken or tacos, or for dipping.
Per tablespoon: 5 calories, 0 g protein, 1 g carbohydrate, 0 g dietary fiber, 0 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium.
Tangerine-Splashed Avocado Pico de Gallo
This is a familiar recipe with the unusual addition of avocado (never a bad thing) and tangerine juice. Try it on fajitas. From Hispanic News Wire, makes about 3 cups salsa.
Ingredients
2 ripe avocados, peeled, seeded, diced
2 medium tomatoes, diced small
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
1-2 fresh serrano chiles, seeded and minced
1/2 cup fresh tangerine juice
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Sea salt, to taste
Directions
Combine avocados, tomatoes, onion, chiles, tangerine and lime juices, cilantro and salt. Gently stir, then transfer to serving bowl, if desired.
Per tablespoon: 15 calories, 0 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate.
Mango Tomato Salsa
From lowfatcooking.about.com, makes 6 servings.
Ingredients
2 small mangoes, diced
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 cup sweet onion
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Sea salt, to taste
Directions
Combine mangoes, tomatoes, onion, jalapeño and cilantro in medium bowl. Squeeze lime over bowl; season with salt. Toss and allow to stand until ready to serve.
Per serving: 73 calories, 3 g fat, 0 cholesterol, 6 g sodium, 16.6 carbohydrate, 2.1 g fiber, 1 g protein
Salsa de Molcajete
You’ll love the smoky roasted flavors touched off by beer and a little vinegar. A good dipping sauce; also good on chiles rellenos and grilled meats. From La Villa Bonita Cooking School/Ana Garcia, makes about 2 cups salsa.
Ingredients
1 large clove roasted garlic, peeled
1/4 small onion
2 tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of toasted cumin seed
Pinch of black peppercorns
1-3 roasted serrano chiles or jalapeños, seeded
1/4 cup beer
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Directions
Roast garlic, onion and tomatoes by putting them on cast iron skillet or other flat, stove-top implement over medium heat.
Dry-roast them, turning, until skin is blistered and the flesh is tender.
Then, in a molcajete or with a mortar and pestle, grind garlic, salt, cumin and peppercorns until well-ground. Then, add one by one, chiles, onion and tomatoes, grinding each as you add. When vegetables are well-ground, stir in beer and the vinegar. Taste for seasoning. Pour into bowl.
Per tablespoon: 5 calories, 0 g protein, 1 g carbohydrate, 0 g dietary fiber, 0 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium
Japanese Teriyaki Ahi Tuna with Pineapple Salsa
This recipe from chef Anthony Polakowski serves 4.
Ingredients
4 6-ounce ahi tuna steaks
MARINADE:
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
Juice of 2 limes
2 inches of ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
PINEAPPLE SALSA:
1 fresh pineapple cored, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup red bell pepper
1/2 cup green bell pepper
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoon minced habanero chile
1 teaspoon chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
Directions
Make marinade: Purée all ingredients (soy sauce through pepper flakes) in a blender. Pour over fish and marinate, refrigerated, for a minimum of two hours. Make salsa: Place pineapple on a baking sheet and broil until fruit just begins to brown. Chop in 1/4-inch cubes and place in a large bowl. Mix all ingredients and refrigerate 2 hours. Over a very hot fire, place fish on the grill. For rare, sashimi-style, grill about 3 minutes on each side. Served with chilled salsa.
Nutrition information not available.
Salsa Cruda
This quick recipe involves little more than a cutting board, food processor and a container to store the puréed results. Serve with tortilla chips. Adapted from the Junior League of Denver’s “Creme de Colorado Cookbook,” makes 1 1/2 to 2 quarts.
Ingredients
6-8 medium tomatoes or 8-10 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
12 firm-skinned tomatillos, large ones with their husks removed, and quartered
1 small bunch scallions, roughly chopped (white and all green parts)
Juice of 1 lime
1 bunch cilantro, most of the stems removed
3 Anaheim (hotter) or Cubanel (milder) chile peppers, stems removed
1 small jalapeño pepper, stem removed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Directions
In a food processor, add the ingredients one at a time, pulsing after each addition until you get the salsa consistency you’re after. You can serve it right away, but the salsa tastes even better if it sits overnight in the refrigerator. The salsa can be refrigerated for up to five days.
Per 1/4-cup serving: 12 calories, trace protein, 3 gm carbohydrates, trace fat, 0 mg cholesterol, trace saturated fat, 149 mg sodium, 1 gm dietary fiber
