Spice Up Your Life

As you know, dear readers, food can often be used as a way to impress others, especially if you can whip something up that a lot of other people can't. Now in our family, this recipe is the most basic thing ever. We should be able to make it in our sleep, or with our eyes closed and one hand behind our back. In fact, we're pretty sure our Nana can do it in her sleep with both hands tied behind her. She can also tell you if you're using the correct pan by just the sound it makes when you set it down on the stove, but that's neither here nor there. The point is, that while our Nana might not be incredibly impressed by this specific recipe, others have been. So we are now passing it on to you... take it to a pot luck, offer it up at your house party, or make it for your future in-laws and we guarantee that the eaters will be impressed or your money back!*

*The writers of this blog would like you to note that you didn't actually pay for anything, hereby nullifying this guarantee. Sorry.

Roasted Salsa

Ingredients:

• 3 medium tomatoes
• 1 tomatillo
• 1-2 jalapenos (depending on how spicy you like it)
• 2 medium green chilies
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 slices of onion
• 1 lime
• Handful of cilantro
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Fire roast the tomatoes, tomatillo, jalapenos, green chilies, garlic, and one slice of onion. You can do this by holding them over the flame of your gas stove, putting them on the grill, or putting them in a cast iron pan on your electric stove.

Once the green chilies are roasted (the skin will start to blacken, crack, and peel) place them in a plastic bag to "sweat". This will allow you to be able to peel them later on.

Put all of the other roasted ingredients in a blender, add salt and pulse, so that everything is blended together but still slightly chunky. Pour into a bowl.

Chop the other slice of onion into larger pieces, and the cilantro. Take the green chilies out of their bag, peel the outer skin and slice open. Scrape out all of the seeds (rinse if you need to), and then chop. Mixed the chopped ingredients in with the blended ones, add a squeeze of lime, taste for salt (adjust if necessary), and you're done! Serve to your delighted guests with chips, or if you've grilled, suggest they top off their meal with it.

And if you really want to make an impression, offer up some music with your salsa. It's sure to stir up some emotions.

Bon appetit! Buen provecho! Yummy!

Mariana and Paula