If you have tomatoes to use up this time of year, this is an easy way to preserve them. Warning: my husband says once you eat this salsa, you'll never like store-bought salsa again.
And when tomatoes are cooked, their lycopene is better absorbed by our bodies!
It's Monday morning. I ended up making 32 quarts of salsa and canning 30 of them this past weekend. I made four varieties:
Mild
Mild with green tomatoes and zucchini
Medium-hot
Medium-hot without garlic and onions
I think I'm ready to open a roadside market! Just kidding, but salsa is fun to make.
(One of my kids can't have onions and garlic, so I made a special batch sans garlic and onions.)
There's something very satisfying about canning produce. I like the process, cleanliness, and organization it requires.
My grandparents owned a "motel/restaurant" during the Great Depression. In fact, it was one of the first hotels/restaurants in the Fort Wayne area. Anyway, they'd drive up to Michigan hauling a trailer with a temporary stove and canning supplies. Then they'd pick peaches and cherries and can them on location in order to be able to have peach and blueberry pies to sell year-'round. (They also grew large gardens and canned lots of food.)
Then my parents took food preservation to a whole new level of productivity.
Maybe that's why I like to can--it takes me back to my roots.
[Btw, this low-sodium salsa recipe has only 1.5 T of salt per batch (which is totally optional). For an entire batch, that’s only 15 mg of sodium per 2 T serving. . .as compared to 170 mg of sodium per 2 T serving in many store-bought salsas. I don’t know anyone who eats just 2 tablespoons of salsa at a time!]
Garden Fresh Salsa
Makes 6-7 quarts
2 gallon tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers
2 red peppers, roasted
6 tomatillios, roasted (optional)
2 green peppers
2-3 serrano and/or habanero peppers (only if you like it hot)
(and if you like it super hot, add any variety of peppers you like!)
I bunch cilantro
2 onions
1 bulb garlic, crushed and diced
2-3 zucchini (optional)
2T cumin
1/2 T salt (optional)
1/2 T pepper
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup lemon or lime juice concentrate (do not use fresh lemons or limes)
Thoroughly wash all produce. Quarter the tomatoes and then chop them in a food processor for about 6 pulses. Drain the juice using a colander. (I save the juice for other recipes.) Chop everything else in the food processor too. Make sure to add other vegetables with the cilantro in the food processor; otherwise, it will stick to the sides of the canister. Then add everything together, including the vinegar, lemon or lime juice, and spices, into a large, heavy-bottom stock pot.
Turn on the heat. After it comes to a full boil, slow cook for 45 minutes, allowing it to cook down an inch or two. (Add a can of tomato paste near the end if you’d also like a sweet flavor; just make sure to mix it in thoroughly.)
Process 45 minutes (for quart jars) in a water bath canner.
Once you eat this, you may never like store bought salsa again!
Cheers!
Emily Boller, wife, mother, artist, and author is on a mission to create expressive works of art in her lifetime; and to bring awareness to the potentially harmful traps of diet-wellness culture.
In her free time, she loves to chase sunrises, grow flowers and vegetables, and can homemade soups.