Amy's Vegan Day: Basic salsa

I could eat chips and salsa all day long. And somehow it hasn't lost it's charm for me, I'll have it as a snack and still think it's one of the most novel food combinations ever. I made this salsa recipe to go with a taco dinner I made for me and Aaron last night and he was very excited when I told him I would be blogging about it. This salsa is very versatile - add other veggies if you want, fruit, a different herb, etc.

Basic Salsa (makes 1 1/2 cups)

4 Roma tomatoes
2 Tbls. red onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed*
1 tsp. white vinegar
Juice of 1/2 a lime**
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar

* Including the seeds makes it hotter. Add more/less jalapeno/seeds depending on how hot you like your salsa. This recipe is fairly mild.

** If you microwave the lime for 10 seconds it makes it much easier to juice.

First you need to peel the tomatoes. Unless you have a fancy schmancy tomato peeler, this is how you do it. Fill a large pot about halfway with water and bring to a boil. Carefully drop the tomatoes in and boil until the skin starts to crack and pop off, below. Sometimes this takes 2 minutes, sometimes it takes 10.

This tomato is already in the ice bath, but this is what it will look like when it is ready to be removed from the pot.

While the tomatoes are boiling, prepare an ice bath (a large bowl filled with ice and cold water). As soon as the skin starts to crack, transfer them to the ice bath. Let cool for a few minutes in the bath and then peel the skin off (it should be very easy to peel). You can either discard the tomato skins or roast them with olive oil and seasonings until crispy for a tasty snack.

Transfer the peeled tomatoes to a food processor and blend so that they are still a bit chunky, not completely pureed.