Damn Good Salsa

This is a classic tomato salsa recipe with plenty of cilantro, cumin, and heat. We sacrificed our taste buds just for this! Try our version once and you'll never eat supermarket salsa again.

Ingredients:

• 1 28-oz can peeled whole tomatoes, save the juice (fresh works well too)
• 1 large red onion
• 3 cloves fresh garlic
• 2 to 5 large jalapeno peppers (or serrano chilies, banana peppers, etc.)
• 2 mild green chilies (optional)
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh cilantro (Chinese parsley, must be fresh)
• 2 Tbl red wine vinegar
• juice of a fresh lime (critical)
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• pepper to taste (1 tsp is plenty).

Directions:

• Chop tomatoes coarsely
• Clean and chop onions to desired coarseness
• Clean and chop garlic finely; a garlic press works best
• Clean and chop peppers and chilies; save the seeds
• Combine everything in a large cook-pot, add spices, stir well
• Heat the salsa to a boil, allow to cook for just a minute or two
• Put salsa in jars.

Notes:

The heat in peppers varies widely, even among ones that look identical; red coloring in the ribs means they're hot. Also, do the chopping by hand. Food processors shred the onions and tomatoes rather than chop them. Cooking releases the oils and flavors from the ingredients and softens the onions. The salsa is excellent when served with unsalted tortilla chips. Finally, keep the jars refrigerated until use.