The Best Smokey Salsa

Dietary: Vegetarian, Dairy-free, Gluten-free

Makes salsa for a week of condiment use/snacking (also the perfect amount of salsa to take to a party)

Ingredients

• 6-8 Roma tomatoes

• 1/3 of a large white onion sliced

• 4-6 garlic cloves

• 1-3 jalapeños (depending on your spice tolerance mild to hot)

• 2-3 poblano peppers

• 1 bundle of cilantro

• 1 lime juiced

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar). This is an essential ingredient!

• Salt & pepper to taste

• Optional kicks: a dash of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375F.

• Cut the Roma tomatoes in half.

• Place the cut Roma tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves, jalapeño, and poblano peppers on a sheet pan with NO oil.

• Place the sheet pan in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to soften and the peppers begin to shrink.

• Turn up the oven to a high broil and broil the veggies for 5 mins. The veggies should bubble and blacken in places—this is essential for the yummy smokey flavor.

  • Note: An alternative super yummy cooking method is to grill the peppers, jalapeños, and onion on an outdoor grill. The tomatoes and garlic will still need to be baked.

• Remove the veggies from the oven. You can either let them cool now or cool your salsa after you make it—up to you and your timeline.

• Place all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor.

  • Things to note:

    • Use the entire cilantro bundle, even the stems!

    • Remove the stems of the jalapeños and peppers by pulling them out—the peppers should be so soft that the stems should easily pull free.

• Sample your salsa an add any additional salt, pepper, vinegar, or spices as needed for your preference.

• Make sure your salsa is cooled completely and then dive in with your favorite chips, pour this over nachos or tacos, toss it into salads, or stir it into guacamole.

The Story

I’m a big salsa gal. I judge a Mexican cuisine restaurant solely on their salsa. For me, making salsa started in high school with pico de gallo. (Keep an eye out for that recipe soon, it’s a good one, too!) I’ve been trying different salsa recipes ever since.

This particular salsa is a current staple at our house—I make a fresh batch almost once a week. We snack on it after work and eat it with most of our dinners (have I mentioned before how much we eat beans?).

So what’s the story? It happened in two parts.

Part one: I used to occasionally make a chipotle salsa (also smokey), but there were a lot of variables in the chipotle flavor and Evan found it a little too intense.

Part two: One evening last summer I was making a pasta sauce using all the leftover veggies in the fridge. Evan decided to roast some poblanos and jalapeños on the grill before chopping them up for the sauce. It was one of the best bowls of pasta I have ever eaten!

A few months later, I decided to give that smokey salsa recipe another try. But this time, remembering that delicious pasta sauce, I decided to try and get the smokey flavor through roasting. Problem solved! I’ve been making this recipe ever since.