Add a little spice to your life — with homemade salsa!

What’s better than a beautiful, ripe garden-grown tomato? That’s a trick question. The answer is NOTHING. But, what’s almost as good? Homemade salsa made with fresh tomatoes. And almost everything you need is available right now at Marshalls Farm Market.

I like to experiment with different peppers — we have so many to choose from. To make it easy, we have notes on all of our peppers with ideas on how to use them. Look for the ones marked ‘Great for Salsa!’

        

A note about tomatoes: use whatever kind want. Big heirloom, little cherry, medium roma … they’re all delicious. Roma is the most traditional but as long as it’s ripe, any tomato will do.

Below are several different varieties of salsas. If you’re too busy to make your own, grab some of our homemade salsa at the market, mild or hot!

Have a favorite salsa recipe? Email it to us, we’d love to share it!

QUICK SALSA:

Makes about 2 cups

Prep time: 15 minutes

 

Ingredients

6 lbs of your favorite tomatoes, chopped

1 green pepper

1 jalapeño, seeded and roughly chopped

1/2 large yellow or red onion, peeled and roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed

Juice of 1 lime

1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

pinch of cumin (optional)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

 

Instructions

Stir everything together in a bowl, chill for about an hour, then enjoy!

 

 

TRADITIONAL SALSA:

Makes about 4 cups

Prep time: about an hour

Cook time: 25 minutes

 

Ingredients

• 3 lbs tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained (see below for simple instructions)
• 3/4 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 jalapeño or pepper of your choice, finely chopped, membranes and seeds removed (leave in for extra spice)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3/4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
• 3/4 tablespoons salt
• 2-3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsp sugar, optional

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, let cool to room temperature, then chill for a few hours.

 

*How to peel tomatoes:

• Cut the tomatoes in half and put them cut-side down on a baking sheet.
• Place under a hot oven broiler for 3-4 minutes; the skins will wrinkle right up when the pan is removed.
• After they cool, the skins will peel right off.

For easy and fast chopping, I throw the onion, peppers and garlic in the food processor and process until chopped to the desired size.

 

GRILLED CORN SALSA:

Makes about 5 cups

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

 

Ingredients

• 2 large ears corn
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 2 ripe diced tomatoes, seeds removed
• 1 whole serrano or jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
• Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 medium lime, juiced
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions

To grill corn, leave the husk on and grill until charred. Then remove husk and silks and put it back on the grill for 2-3 minutes, heating all sides. Once grilled, slice corn off of the cob and add to bowl with remaining ingredients and stir. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more salt, pepper, or lime juice for added flavor.

 

Serve immediately. Will keep covered in the fridge for several days.