Fresh Salsa

Let's face it, fresh salsa can never and will never compare to the jarred stuff. The ingredients in this salsa are simple but bursting with flavor.  It's so easy to make and from this day forward, you will heavily reconsider ever purchasing the jarred stuff again.

Salsa ingredients lining up for role call

Jalapeno, garlic and cilantro (leaves only) are the first to join. These ingredients are best when minced very fine. 

Place in the food processor.

Puree until it all scatters onto the sides. Scrape down again and pulse until everything is minced very fine as shown here.

Get your onion and cut it into 4 pieces. Get 1/4 of the onion and cut into thirds and place into the food processor.

Pulse several times until you get small pieces of minced onion. Remember, if you over pulse, you will get baby food!

Cut your tomato in half and remove the stem.

Cut into fourths...

Then into 8 pieces

Place tomatoes and salt in the food processor.

And the lemon

Pulse but be very careful. We also want the texture of the tomato and not turn this into baby food.

Serve with chips and you will be the talk of the town

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Fresh Salsa
1 garlic clove
4-5 sprigs cilantro (leaves only)
1 jalapeno (seeds removed cut into about 6 pieces)
1/4 onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 lemon (equiv to 2-3 tbsp lemon juice)
2 medium sized tomatoes cut into 8 wedges (vine ripe for best flavor)

1. Put the garlic clove, cilantro leaves and roughly chopped jalapeno in the food processor and pulse until it is in VERY small minced pieces. We don't want big chunks of garlic in the salsa.

2. Get 1/4 of the onion and cut in half or thirds and put in the food processor. Pulse until the onion is in small pieces. We still want to texture of the onion but not eat huge onion chunks. Be careful not to over pulse because the onion will turn into mushy baby food.

3. Lastly add the salt, lemon and tomato. Same advice for the tomato here. Do not over pulse as we want the texture of the tomato. You will notice a froth developing which is normal from the tomato and the onion. It will settle after 2 hours. Try to make one day in advance if possible, otherwise, refrigerate for 2 hours or so. This will taste amazing the next day!

Making the salsa by layering ingredients will let you achieve a salsa with the best texture and visual appeal. In the past, I've made the mistake of putting all the ingredients in at once which ended up in a salsa with mushy tomatoes and huge chunks of garlic and onion. It looked like a mess. Please don't let this tragedy happen to you.