by amvandenhurk | Dinner, Meatless Mondays, Plant-Based Eating, Sides, Vegan, Vegetarian
Three salsas to make with everyone happy
I cannot leave well enough alone. My tomato salsa is just plain addictive. It is. Really. Just ask anyone who has had it. Some will drink the leftover juices it is so good.
Recently I had a dinner party where it was Taco Tuesday on a Saturday night. Served was pork carnitas, chicken, and shrimp as fillings for the tacos. I decided I needed to expand my salsa offerings since I have only ever done a simple tomato salsa. Settled on making tomatillo red-chile salsa and green-chile tomatillo salsa (salsa verde). There was some fretting on my part regarding these salsas. While I have eaten them, I never actually thought I would ever make them having never used tomatillos nor New Mexican chiles before. Essentially I was making what my friends in Albuquerque would call “Christmas” having both green and red sauces.
My fretting was not needed. Making these salsas is fairly straight forward. Once I got over the ingredients such as the tomatillos and New Mexican chiles, which all were found in my local Food Lion with ease, I made both in 15-20 minutes.
Salsa Three Ways Recipes
Addictive Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
- 4-6 plum tomatoes, diced small
- 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped small
- 1 Jalapeño pepper, chopped small
- 1/2 white onion, chopped small
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Preparation
- Combine all ingredients. Serve at room temperature.
Green-Chile Tomatillo Salsa (Salsa Verde)
Ingredients
- ½ pound tomatillos, husks removed
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt to taste
Directions
- Simmer tomatillos, tomato, jalapeño, and 2 cups water in a medium sauce pot until tomatillos have turned olive green and are almost bursting, 8–10 minutes.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a food processor or blender with cilantro, lime juice, oregano, and cumin. Process until smooth, then season with salt.
- Cool completely and serve chilled.
Tomatillo Red-Chile Salsa
Ingredients
- 3 New Mexican chiles, stems removed
- 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husks removed
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt to taste
Preparation
- Using scissors, snip the dried chiles into 1-inch rings over a medium pot (to catch the seeds).
- Add tomatillos and 2 cups water and simmer ‘until tender and softened about 8–10 minutes.
- Remove chiles and tomatillos with a slotted spoon and transfer to the bowl of a food processor or blender and add garlic, lime juice, Tabasco, and cumin.
- Puree until smooth, adding a little of the tomatillo cooking liquid as needed to get a smooth salsa, then season with salt.
by amvandenhurk | Sides, Vegetarian
Really Addictive Salsa
This is seriously addictive salsa. No joke. And that is OK. Nothing beats fresh salsa. If I am not bringing a dessert to a party then I am bringing it. I believe I would be disinvited if I did not bring it. My family is addicted to this recipe. I am pretty sure they could eat this daily it is so good. In fact one family who will remain nameless could drink the liquid. There is no shame in that.
The recipe is so easy. And it is done in less than fifteen minutes. No excuse to ever buy the jarred stuff again. Or even the “fresh” ones in the refrigerator case.
Seven ingredients. That is it. Fresh and simple ingredients.
It can be served with tortilla chips or Fish Tacos.
Addictive Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
- 4-6 plum tomatoes, diced small
- 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped small
- 1 Jalapeño pepper, chopped small
- 1/2 white onion, chopped small
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Preparation
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Let sit for 30 minutes at room temp and stirring a couple times.
by amvandenhurk | Dinner, Seafood
Go wild on Taco Tuesday with Fish Tacos
Not only for Taco Tuesday, but maybe Fish Friday, these fish tacos will satisfy everyone. We’ve never done Taco Tuesday in our house. The local Mexican place offers $1 tacos on Tuesdays. We would go and eat our tacos, but honestly they were pretty sorry tacos. Only two kinds: chicken and beef. Always leaving unsatisfied, we stopped going. Why pay for that wasn’t meeting your expectations? Even if it was a dollar.
I decided this past Tuesday that we needed to do Taco Tuesday. Mainly because I was bored and wanted to cook something new. And I rarely cook anything from south of border. Decided to make fish tacos. I’ve eaten them in restaurants and while they were tasty there was something that never worked for me. Best way was me to make them.
Made with cod, homemade salsa, and fiery sauce, they are delicious, fast, and simple. Perfect for busy weeknights. I make my own tomato salsa and mix my own fiery sauce. The extra effort will reward you in flavor and freshness. I keep the cod very simple by seasoning it with salt and pepper cooking it in a little bit of olive oil for it to get brown and lightly crispy.
My guys are already requesting them for next Taco Tuesday, but with shrimp. So our first Taco Tuesday was a success!
I used cod, but other flaky fish would work as well as shrimp. Per request by my guys, they wanted both fish and chicken. I agreed to have both. While I seasoned the fish with salt and pepper, I seasoned the chicken with a spicy mix of pepper and chili.
Fish Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 pieces cod
- Salt and pepper
- Salsa – see recipe below
- Lettuce thinly sliced
- Small flour or corn tortillas
Fiery Sauce
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
Mix together in small bowl.
Addictive Salsa Recipe
- 4-6 plum tomatoes, diced small
- 1 bunch of Cilantro, chopped small
- 1 Jalapeño pepper, chopped small
- 1/2 white onion, chopped small
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Mix all ingredients together. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temp and stirring a couple times.
Preparation
- Prepare the salsa and fiery sauce allowing the blend flavors at room temp.
- Salt and pepper the cod or shrimp.
- Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat.
- Cook cod until flaky and/or shrimp until they are pink.
- Warm up tortillas.
- Serve with salsa, fiery sauce, lettuce, and tortillas.
Serves 4.
by amvandenhurk | Life, Vegetarian
Moving away from processed and pre-made foods.
In the past year I’ve really worked to transform my diet. I have moved away from process and pre-made foods. I’m making more and more from scratch.
We use to purchase salsa and hummus from the grocery store. We ate them. And they tasted OK. Nothing wow about them. They were food. And that’s never a good statement.
The ingredient list was more than ten items and had stuff I couldn’t pronounce. I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of my food having stuff I can’t pronounce unless it is from foreign languages.
I found making food from scratch can be quick and easy. And it seems we’ve cut down on waste because we really love the homemade salsa and hummus. Or any meal for that matter. Usually we down it all in one sitting. Or really eat the leftovers.
Hummus
I can make fresh hummus in five minutes. I use a recipe Jeroen found in the February 2013 Reader’s Digest:
– 1 can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
– 2 garlic cloves
– Juice of one lemon (fresh is best)
– 3 tablespoons of tahini (a little more for a smoother hummus)
– 1 tablespoon of olive oil
– 1 teaspoon of sea salt (I use kosher salt)
– 1 teaspoon of cumin
– 1 teaspoon of paprika
Combine all of it in a food processor and blend until smooth.
That’s it. And these are ingredients you may have stocked in your pantry.
And salsa takes about 15 minutes with all the chopping. But that’s it.
Simple, fresh, healthy ingredients. Food that you know where it came from. Not some far away processing plant.
I’m not spending more time in the kitchen. And I not spending more money at the grocery store. But I am getting much better food.
So what do you make from scratch that you use to purchase pre-made?
by amvandenhurk | Vegan, Vegetarian
Why, no, no, you can’t ever have enough salsa. Well, ok, maybe if it isn’t fresh homemade salsa and comes out of the jar.
Warm weather begs for salsa to me. I love the brightness of salsa. The texture of salsa. The smell of salsa. I can make a meal out of fresh salsa and chips.
I love simple salsa. Just tomatoes, white onion, cilantro, chile pepper, garlic, salt, and lime juice chopped fine. Nothing fancy for me.
I’ve been using this recipe from Real Simple magazine for years.
The 2.5 cups get eaten pretty quickly so double the recipe or there will be sad faces.
Everyone in our house loves the salsa.
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Hello! I'm Ann Marie and I wear the well-worn apron. Join me as explore plant-based eating while I live on an island off the U.S. state of Rhode Island.