Neither Poverty Nor Riches

Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.

A Personal Recipe Archive

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Salsa Fresca

Recipe Name: Salsa Fresca

Notes: This is a little salsa I made to take to a Memorial Day barbecue.

Servings: Enough for a whole party of people. I used half a red bell pepper and half an orange bell pepper (because that's what I had on hand), but you can use a whole red or orange pepper instead.

Ingredients:
  • 3 or 4 tomatoes, diced
  • half of a red pepper, diced
  • half of an orange pepper, diced
  • half of a red onion, finely diced
  • 1 cup corn, cut off the cob
  • 2 chipotle peppers (I used canned peppers in adobo sauce)
  • 1-2 jalapeno peppers
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 4-5 sprigs of fresh cilantro, minced
  • 1-2 Tbs. vegetable oil
  • 2 Tbs. lime juice
  • black pepper
  • salt
Directions: Begin by cutting your corn off the cob (if necessary) and tossing it in a bowl with a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil. Spread the lightly oiled corn on a piece of tinfoil on your broiler pan (or a baking sheet, if you don't have a broiler below the oven). Crack black pepper over the corn and sprinkle it lightly with salt. Place it under the broiler for 10 minutes or so, until it gets lightly browned. Be sure to check on it frequently. Once the corn is cooking, chop the bell peppers, tomatoes, and onion. Finally, mince the leaves of a few sprigs of cilantro. Put these diced veggies and the cilantro in a bowl and set it aside for the time being.
Next, prepare the hot peppers. slice the jalapeno(s) open and remove the seeds and white part in the middle. Most of the pepper's capsaicin is contained in those parts, but this salsa gets most of its kick from chipotles, so these are unnecessary. Mince the green flesh of the jalapenos. To try to reduce their heat, I sauteed the minced jalapenos with the garlic in vegetable oil and then drained off the oil. I'm not sure if this is worth the trouble, but capsaicin is fat-soluble so it seemed like a likely method for getting rid of some of it. Add your minced jalapenos to the rest of the vegetables. Take your two chipotles and puree them in a food processor or blender. I also include a tablespoon or so of the adobo sauce the chipotles are canned in for extra flavor. To this puree, add two tablespoons of lime juice.
Once the corn is done, toss it in with the rest of the vegetables. Make sure that everything is well-mixed. Last, sprinkle the chipotle/lime liquid over the veggies and toss them well to make sure that it is evenly distributed. Get out your tortilla chips or get ready to do some Mexican cooking, because your salsa is now done.