“Lazy” Salsa

Every family has their own variation of this versatile sauce that literally goes on everything.

Never buy jarred salsa again.

This salsa recipe is for a basic ‘salsa roja’ (red). If you want a ‘salsa verde’ (green), just substitute tomatillos for the tomatoes. Many salsas are cooked, ‘a la plancha’ (a metal plate similar to a griddle), then blended smooth or roughly chopped, like this one. Other variants like Pico de Gallo are uncooked, thus classified as ‘salsa cruda’. It is also chunky, so you’ll be needing your knife. But here, we are using our dry cast iron skillet to char the ingredients to intensify their flavors, then chop and pulse in a food processor to reach the right consistency. That’s it. No muss, no fuss.

There are no hard and fast rules for making salsa, except use the freshest ingredients you can find. But that’s a hard and fast rule of cooking in general. Bonus points if you grow tomatoes and peppers yourself. Use this recipe as a jumping off point and tweak it to your liking. Soon, you will have your own signature blend.

While this recipe is great on it’s own, I like to add some cilantro and a glug of good olive oil before serving. My brother likes to add in freshly ground toasted cumin seeds and finish with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice for extra pop.

You will literally put this $#!* on everything. On eggs, in breakfast burritos, over grilled chicken breasts and steaks, and of course, with lots of tortilla chips. You’ll want to bring it to parties. It will also become your favorite low calorie / high flavor alternative to a typical vinaigrette or creamy dressing. Try dressing your next salad with a couple spoonfuls of your salsa, a squeeze of lemon or lime and a drizzle of good olive oil.