We’ve had a lousy spring here, with late snow falling as recently as within the past two weeks. But I wanted to get some plants in; and since I like to grow tomatoes and peppers, planting had to occur as soon as possible.
The weather looked good today, so off I went to the garden centre. I came away with some Early Girl tomato plants (the shortened season made Early Girls a logical choice) and some hot pepper plants. On a whim, I also got some herbs, as we used to have a herb garden, and they’re easy to grow. I got everything planted, and I hope they survive.
Then it occurred to me–tomatoes, hot peppers, and herbs–sounds like the makings of a good salsa. So, I guess I have a “salsa garden.”
I do too! I have several varieties of both tomatoes and peppers, and this year I also planted garlic, sweet white onions, and tomatillos. Cilantro is an abomination, so we didn’t plant that.
Last year I made and canned a bunch of salsa, but the onions were from my father-in-law. This year it’s all on us!
Double ditto that! And it’s everywhere these days!
I make salsa as follows:
I buy the Desert Glory cherry tomatoes* in the red mesh bag. Put two bags’ worth on the gas grill with one jalapeno and one serrano. Roast until blackened. Put in the blender with a mere sliver of garlic, some salt, and possibly a little bit of fresh lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid (“sour salt,” a miraculous thing to have on hand). Pulse in the blender so it’s still pretty chunky. Chill.
This is so fantastic, sometimes it’s all I have for dinner with tortilla chips.
I don’t put any herbs in salsa. Nor onions. Just my preference.
*If you have really fresh, ripe tomatoes, by all means, use those. Of the store-bought tomatoes, only the Desert Glory taste like tomatoes IMHO.
I planted 3 cilantro plants this year, just to make sure we had enough! So there to all you super-tasters. Alongside went in more basil, five different pepper plants and three tomato plants, two of them in Topsy-Turvy baskets. No space for onions, sadly. Oh, well.