Tasty Tuesday: Simple Cilantro Salsa

As my friends and I planned our Florida trip, one of our top priorities was eating and drinking as much delicious shit as possible. See Exhibit A:

This is what happens when 3 drunk girls decide to bust into a coconut cake from Publix.

Since we were staying at my friend's house, we were able to save some money by making a lot of our own cocktails and snacks in her kitchen. One of those snacks was the delicious and simple salsa I'm sharing today.

I don't know why I'd never attempted making my own salsa until now ... It's really one of the easiest snacks you can possibly throw together. I watched my friend Ashley make this salsa while we were together in Florida and decided to try to make it myself after I got home. 

I don't think this picture accurately shows the amount of cilantro I used, but you can at least get an idea.

I didn't measure anything when I made this (neither did she), but you really don't need to. You're basically just roughly chopping a few veggies and throwing everything into a food processor or blender. It probably won't turn out exactly the same every time, but it will be delicious regardless. (If you're wondering, mine tasted slightly different from the salsa she made but the flavors were so similar that it was barely noticeable.)

This will make a lot, so it's great for parties (or for people who, like Eric and me, are slightly addicted to salsa). It keeps well in the fridge, but if you don't think you'll eat it all within a week or so, I'd suggest using about half as much of everything. 

Another thing to note: since I made a lot, I used my blender instead of my food processor (which is much smaller). Eric said he would prefer I use the food processor next time because he likes a chunkier salsa and the blender basically pulverized everything into a really smooth mixture. I may just have to play around with my blender settings, but that's something to consider if you have a strong preference when it comes to your salsa texture.

The delicious finished product!

Simple Cilantro Salsa

A recipe from my friend Ashley.

Ingredient List:

• 1 medium white onion
• 3-4 cloves garlic (You'll want to use fresh garlic for this salsa, not the jarred, pre-minced kind.)
• 1 serrano pepper
• 1 jalapeño pepper
• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• Fresh cilantro (I probably used a cup or more, but my husband and I both love cilantro. If you're not a huge fan, you could definitely use less. I think it's important to use at least a little in order to give the salsa plenty of flavor, but I don't think it's necessary to use as much as I did.)
• 1 lime

Instructions:

1.  Roughly chop the white onion, garlic, and peppers on a cutting board. If you want less heat, remove some or all of the seeds from the peppers during this step. You can also use the flat part of your knife to mash the garlic into a paste if you like. Ashley did this, but I didn't. I thought the salsa tasted great both ways, so it's just an option.

2.  Add the chopped veggies to a blender or food processor. 

3.  Add the fresh cilantro and pour in the can of tomatoes.

4.  Squeeze in the lime juice and blend. (Again, consider how chunky/smooth you want your salsa to be. Like I said earlier, I probably need to play around with the settings on my blender or just use my food processor next time to get a chunkier texture.)

And that's it. It's really good and really addictive ... Eric and I ate this batch in about 3 days.