Confession time: I don’t like tomatoes. I’ve tried really hard to force myself to like them, but I can usually only eat a bite or two before I inevitably pull the tomato off my burger/sandwich/salad. I can eat tomatoes cooked or mixed into dishes, but chunks of raw tomatoes are not my jam. The ONLY exception to this rule is homegrown, Arkansas tomatoes. In the summer, if someone gives me tomatoes from their garden, I will eat them with a fork and a little bit of salt and pepper.
Recently, my mom brought over a bag of tomatoes and jalapenos from my Pawpaw’s garden. I had planned to eat them whole, but she brought the bag over and left it on my porch one afternoon and by the time I got home from work, some of the tomatoes had busted from the heat. Since I had a lot of tomatoes to use up quickly, I thought it was high time for some homemade salsa.
So one Sunday morning, I got up early and went to the Bernice Garden Farmers Market, where I picked up red onions from Barnhill Orchards, bell peppers from Little Rock Urban Farming and some fresh cilantro. This recipe is one that can easily be tweaked to your tastes. I’m a fan of pulsing mine in the blender (because, duh, I don’t like chunks of tomatoes in my salsa), but if you like a chunkier salsa, a food processor would be your best bet, or even dicing all your ingredients and combining in a bowl.
Farmers Market Salsa
Recipe yields 2 jars of salsa
Ingredients:
3 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeds removed, chopped
1 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 large or 2 small jalapenos, chopped (I removed the seeds from one but not the other to add heat)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 teaspoon cumin
juice of one lime
Add all ingredients except lime juice to a food processor or blender and pulse to desired consistency. If you like a chunky salsa, chop all ingredients and combine in a bowl. Add lime juice and more salt, pepper or cumin to taste and pulse a couple more times to combine.
rosemary on the tv 