Recipe: The Easiest Salsa

Photo:msartist/Flickr/Creative Commons License

Here at KCET we often bring snacks to share with our coworkers. Anything from hummus and chips, fresh fruit, or baby carrots, to the latest discoveries from our resident foodies. We also have a continual flow of birthday cakes, pastries, cookies, the occasional tart, and of course, donuts. Food is how we celebrate each other; the kitchenette our proverbially water-cooler where we catch up on which shows are good, and which new restaurant is worth a try. Sometimes we even talk about work!

There is one item though that gets the mouth watering even more than the coveted donut. It is a simple salsa recipe with just three ingredients that is so easy to make that you won't even have to dirty a knife or cutting board.

The Easiest Salsa
Serves 12

You will need a blender and a medium sized pot with lid.

5 medium sized tomatoes
5 medium sized jalapenos (or use any hot peppers)
1 tablespoon salt, plus more to taste

Place the jalapenos and tomatoes in the pot and just cover with water. Bring the water to a rapid boil then turn the heat off and leave covered for 20 minutes.

Carefully remove the tomatoes and jalapenos from the water, removing any stems, and place them in the blender. Pulse the blender a few times to get the emulsion going. If the ingredients aren't blending you can use a wooden spoon to smash the tomatoes and press the ingredients closer to the blade. If it is still not blending you may add a teaspoon of warm water.

Add a tablespoon of salt and blend on high for 20 seconds. Taste and add salt if additional salt is needed. Keep in mind that the tortilla chips will impart quite a bit of salt as well.

Move the mixture to a container, cover, and refrigerate until cool. The salsa will last up to three days and you can freeze a portion of it for later use.

Clean up is so easy. Add a drop of detergent and some warm water to the blender, run it, dump it, and toss it on the drying rack. Simply rinse and wipe dry the pot and voila, time to eat some salsa. Serve with tortilla chips.