Perfect Homemade Salsa

You know what just SCREAMS St. Patrick's Day? Yup, Mexican food. Much to my husband's dismay, I do not make Irish food (I stood in the kitchen one year while he made corned beef and hash -- NEVER AGAIN), and I have been much too tired this week to be creative with food. BUT, we had friends coming over for dinner, and I decided to go with my favorite fall-back: Mexican.

I thought this was the ideal time to perfect the allusive "perfect homemade salsa" recipe, as I have tried twice before but thought I knew exactly what I needed to do to get it right. I decided to combine recipes from The Pioneer Woman and Mountain Mama Cooks and make a few adjustments here and there, and it was not only simple, but EXCELLENTE.

I went through a major pico de gallo phase, with the big chunks of tomato and onion, but what I have been craving lately is some delish restaurant-style stuff that is nice and blended. Divine. If you want some restaurant-style salsa that is fresh and doesn't have any nasty vinegar or other preservatives, this is the way to go.

Perfect Salsa

1 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes
2 10 oz. cans Rotel (or just regular diced tomatoes and green chiles)
1/2 of a small onion
1 fresh jalapeno
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon honey
1 clove garlic
A big handful/a little more than a cup of fresh cilantro
juice of one lime

1. Chop the onion and (peeled) garlic. Toss the whole tomatoes along with the onion and garlic in and hit the pulse button 3-5 times to get the big stuff into smaller pieces, but you still want it to be chunky at this point.

 2. Cut the stem off the jalapeno, cut it in half, and remove the seeds if you like mild salsa or leave some in if you like a little heat. Chop into small chunks (they don't need to be very small).

3. Now toss in everything else (both cans of Rotel, honey, salt, lime juice, jalapeno, and cilantro) into the blender. Unless you have an industrial-sized blender, this might look like a tight fit at the moment. No worries. That cilantro will get small mighty quick.

4. Blend away until the cilantro is small but not minuscule. Once the cilantro is this size, everything else should be perfectly blended.

And ... BOOM. Perfect salsa. Perfect for the chips and salsa snacks I have been craving for months. 

As a warning, because it will be all aerated (or whatever the scientific term is), it will look a little orange-ish at first, and will be kind of bubbly. I put mine in the fridge for at least an hour before serving the first time, then seal it up in jars to keep.

And just so you don't think I'm the heathen wife of an Irish man, let me point out that I did dress my daughter in an adorable t-shirt and whipped together a four-leaf-clover clippie this morning for her hair. So there you go.

Erin Go Braugh everyone! Enjoy your salsa!