Simply Good Salsa
- donelsonranch
- Aug 3, 2018
- 3 min read
Where have whole pickled jalapeños been my whole life??? Of course, I know they’ve been on the grocery store shelf all along, but I guess I just didn’t notice them. Shame on me for not knowing how great these little guys are and how much of a difference their flavor makes in a recipe. Thank you, Diane Welsh for opening my eyes!
A little backstory before I tell you about Diane and this delish recipe. Many of you may know this already, but I had the great pleasure of being an on-air guest for Cuisinart at QVC and it was wonderful! Plus, my kitchen was full of Cuisinart products long before working with them, so it was just a perfect matchup for me.
I met Diane at Cuisinart‘s headquarters up in Stamford, CT, when I was training. Boy, talk about a kid in a candy store! Whew. I was salivating like Pavlov’s dog there–another story for another time!
Diane is a great cook and has worked with the Cuisinart brand for a long time. We quickly became friends! Food and music were common denominators. I was talking to Diane one day about Cuisinart's 8 cup food processor and the many different recipes you can make using it. Salsa came up and she said I’ve got to try a salsa recipe that she’s been making for years. She uses whole pickled jalapeños and she said that I wouldn’t believe what a difference the flavor makes versus sliced jalapeños or fresh. I knew she knew what she was talking about, so I headed out to buy the ingredients to give it a whirl.
A couple of hours later, I sent her this pic with a text that read, “You were right–this is delicious!” I just love this flavor and so does Charlie! I’ve made a few tweaks, like all cooks do with recipes. Diane uses parsley instead of cilantro, but I could eat my weight in cilantro, so that had to be in there. Also, I’m not a big fan of raw onions, so I don’t typically make it with them and I don’t miss them at all– the garlic more than enough provides that perfect zip!
Thank you, Diane for this new addition to my appetizer arsenal. This is the way I’ll make salsa from here on out! And it couldn’t be easier in the food processor. Fresh, flavorful, fast, and easy. Isn’t that the best kind of cooking?!
SIMPLY GOOD SALSA
Adapted from Diane Welsh 🙂
Fresh, flavorful, and fast and easy in your food processor. Make the most of your summer tomatoes and cilantro while enjoying the flavor of whole pickled jalapeños. My new favorite salsa!
Ingredients:
1 whole pickled jalapeño pepper (I choose a large one, but you can decide based on your heat tolerance) seeded and cut into 4 or 6 pieces
1/3 cup cilantro, long stems removed
1 average garlic clove, trimmed and peeled
3 ripe, red Roma tomatoes, seeded and quartered
Fresh juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 tablespoon)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (add more or less according to your taste. this ingredient is key to me!)
Directions:
Place the jalapeños, cilantro, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor (I use Cuisinart’s 8 cup model) fitted with a chopping blade and secure the lid.
Pulse until all is finely chopped. Scape down the sides with a small spatula.
Toss in the tomatoes and salt and pour in lime juice.
Pulse until tomatoes are chopped to your desired consistency (I like my salsa chunky)
Pour into a serving bowl and serve with tortilla chips. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Nan’s Notes:
I make this salsa without onions and I don’t miss the flavor. The photo was taken with scallions added to the salsa. You can use one scallion- the green portion cut into 2-inch pieces or one very small wedge of white onion. Toss it in the food processor with the jalapeños, cilantro, and garlic. Customize how you like!
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