How to Make Amazing Salsa Without a Recipe

Hello, my name is Patricia and I'm addicted to salsa.  There, I said it.   Sigh.  

I first had the pleasure of eating salsa when I was 10 years old.  I instantly fell in love with the party that was happening in my mouth and I secretly wished I had been born into a Mexican family.  

Salsa was something we never ever had in my house growing up so I had to wait months or years for the occasional taste.  The minute I moved into my first apartment, I started buying the jarred stuff.  It was pretty good and I was a happy camper.  Not long after that I learned that some Mexican restaurants are happy to sell you their salsa if you ask for it.  I found one that would - the restaurant's salsa was way better than the jarred stuff and I was a very happy camper.  

These days I opt for homemade - it's every bit as good if not better than restaurant salsa.  After making countless recipes, I realized you don't actually need a recipe to make amazing salsa.  You start with fresh vegetables (like tomatoes and in this case sweet peppers - or tomatillos, poblanos, etc).  Add some aromatics (onions, garlic).  Roast everything together to develop some charred flavor, add even more flavor (cilantro, S&P), and finish with a little acid (citrus).   Here's a version that I made from stuff I had in the vegetable bowl that needed to be used before it went bad.  I'll show you how I made it.

Just look at all those wonderful veggies - you know this salsa is going to be amazing!

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For this batch, I started with a bunch of black cherry tomatoes that I left whole, several larger red tomatoes that I cut in half, a few whole red hot peppers, lots of whole sweet green banana peppers, a medium white onion that was peeled and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices, and 3 whole garlic cloves with their paper husks left on.

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I popped everything under the boiler for about 10 minutes until it looked like this.

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I let the veggies cool a bit before I removed the paper husks from the garlic cloves and the stems from the peppers.  Into the trash with those. 

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Everything else went into the Vitamix, including any juices that accumulated on the roasting pan.

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I had some cilantro leftover from dinner the night before.

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So I added a good handful.

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I also had half of a lime leftover so I squeezed the juice and added it too.  

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I pulsed everything together in my Vitamix until it was exactly the way I like it - not too thick and not too thin.  Lastly, I tasted it for seasoning and determined it needed some salt.  I added about 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt to the 16-ounce jar shown below.    

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Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for longer.  Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/2YJTiEq

• vitamix https://amzn.to/2xPw2d9

• deli container https://amzn.to/3fuc88x

Soft Pretzels

Who doesn't love big, warm, soft pretzels?  They're so good and pretty easy to make too - just throw the ingredients together and let the stand mixer do the kneading.  Start to finish, less than 2 hours.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• professional stand mixer https://amzn.to/32IH0k4

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/2Ls3mKx

• silpat liner https://amzn.to/2WKDDlF

• spider skimmer https://amzn.to/2WjU9tM

• pretzel salt https://amzn.to/2WgtM81

• Herlocker’s dipping mustard https://amzn.to/2WK46zx

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Soft Pretzels

makes 6 pretzels

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (105-115F).

• 1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1 1/8 teaspoon fine salt

• 1 cup bread flour

• 3 cup all purpose flour

• 2 cups water

• 2 tablespoons baking soda

• 1 egg

• 1 tablespoon water

• pretzel salt

Directions

1. Make the yeast mixture by sprinkling the yeast over the water; stir to dissolve.

2. Pour yeast mixture into bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.

3. Add the brown sugar, salt, and both flours; knead until dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl (add more flour, a little at a time, if needed). This should take about 5 minutes.

4. Cover dough and let rest for 30 minutes.

5. While the dough is rising, prepare the baking soda solution by combining the water and baking soda in a medium saucepan; heat just until you see small bubbles appear around the edge of the pan. Turn heat off and set aside until needed.

6. After the dough has risen, divide into 6 equal portions.

7. On a lightly oiled or floured surface, roll each portion of dough into a long rope about 1/2 inch thick; for into pretzel shape, gluing the ends down with a dab of water.

8. Dip both sides of each pretzel into the warm baking soda solution.

9. Use a paper towel to dab off excess water; place on silicone or parchment lined sheet pan.

10. Allow pretzels to rise a 2nd time, about 30 minutes, until they double in size. If your oven is off, now is the time to preheat it 450F.

11. Make egg wash by whisking together the egg and water; brush on risen pretzels and sprinkle with pretzel salt (kosher salt or flakes sea salt can also be used).

12. Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until deep golden brown.

13. Allow pretzels to cool for a few minutes before removing them from the sheet pan to a cooling rack. Recipe makes 6.