Homemade Restaurant-Style Salsa

Let me admit now, upfront: I'm a picky eater. I know, being a food lover doesn't generally allow for those of us who are picky, but I've learned to adapt foods to suit my own tastes while (sometimes slowly) adapting my taste to enjoy a wider variety of foods. It's a work in progress!

If you ask me, this onion got what it deserved...

Some people naturally love vegetables. I am not one of them. For instance, like many others out there I have a strong aversion to raw tomatoes.  (Keep in mind, I could suck down ketchup by the gallon but raw is another story). However...

I love salsa!

I mean, who doesn't? Salsa is versatile, healthy and can be extremely budget friendly. If you do it right (in my opinion), the spice will kick you directly in the rear (or wherever). Also, it's EVERYWHERE. You can order salsa with pretty much anything. Simply put, salsa is HOT STUFF!! (Oh, puns. Forgive me)

I spent years eating salsa in Mexican restaurants by the bowlful without batting a veggie-intolerant eye but never found any kind of jarred or canned salsa that could come close to the same caliber of taste and texture.  I tried making my own "fresh" salsa from recipes but they weren't cutting it either. Just piles of chopped veggies which in my opinion was NOT an acceptable pairing to tortilla chips.

Finally, I found the solution. The salsa recipe that ACTUALLY tastes like the salsa I love in Mexican restaurants. After many google searches and a lot of trial and error I came across this recipe:

Winning Salsa

Who would have guessed that canned and jarred ingredients could triumph over the fresh stuff?? Apparently that makes all the difference.

Personally, I make it as follows:

- big handful of fresh cilantro (note: some people find cilantro to taste "soapy"; I have no solution for this, but I know enough to know that you can't just "get over it", so don't try to make them; let the soapy people eat guacamole or other salsa or whatever instead, just don't make them eat cilantro because that's kind of mean and not awesome)
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (mine are from Ralph's but I'm sure it makes no difference. Hooray Ralph's!)
- bunch of pickled jalapenos (I usually use at least a dozen), with a little of the juice thrown in for texture and flavor
- couple of pinches of garlic powder, maybe about half a teaspoon
-dash+ of salt, again maybe half a teaspoon

The first time you make it I'd recommend starting with less cilantro and jalapenos and then add to taste after the first blend.

Blend all ingredients, in a blender. Blend well. I find that the texture works best when you put the cilantro and peppers in the bottom of the blender and then let the tomatoes go in on top of that. Check for flavor and add more cilantro or peppers if you want to kick it up. The flavors will become more pronounced over time in the fridge.

Eat!

I store this in a wide mouth Tupperware. That way it keeps its freshness but is still easy to DIP from, which is extremely useful in this case. 

I use this salsa in tons of recipes. It's actually been a great way for me to more easily incorporate vegetables into my day. I'm no nutritionist, but I know that tomatoes do a lot of good things for the body.

This recipe also introduced me to fresh cilantro and it's now an ingredient I love. (See! Progress!)

Cheers!