Traditional Indigenous Recipes

Tomato Salsa

Salsas with tomato and corn bases; both contain sauteed onions, bell pepper, jalapenos, garlic, salt and black pepper.

I also call this Summer Salsa because I can make this from almost everything I grow in my garden. In colder months we have to substitute grocery store tomatoes and corn; look for “hot house” tomatoes and “sweet” corn. My family eats gallons of salsa. Like the green chiles, salsa goes on almost everything and is a staple in our home.

Ingredients:

6 cups tomatoes (we like the small cherry tomatoes, but the larger ones work well too, as long as they’re sweet) either peeled or unpeeled (I prefer the unpeeled)

1 cup sweet corn

1 large white onion

1 cup peeled green chilies (mild, medium, hot or extra hot is your choice)

1-2 fresh jalapenos (for hot salsa) or ½ c pickled jalapenos (mild or medium)

*1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

*garlic to taste

*small bunch of cilantro

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

Optional:

½ cup cooked and drained black beans

You can add mix all these ingredients together without cooking them first, but I prefer them to be lightly sautéed. Another option is to roast the tomatoes and garlic in a roasting pan for an hour at 325 degrees.

Add corn, onion, chilies to frying pan and sauté until ingredients are soft.

Add ingredients to food processor.

Experiment with how smooth or chunky you like your salsa. Add and subtract ingredients according to the size of your processor and to what you like the best.

*Old World ingredient