salsa!

A recent article in The Arizona Daily Star got me thinking about Salsa. What is so special about this sauce that goes with chips, on tacos and that is put inside of burritos? Is it the fact that it comes in different varieties: hot, medium and mild.

At my house, we always have some form of salsa. Either store bought (currently, we have Pace Picatne Salsa) or homemade salsa.


My Tata Hector makes a very hot version of salsa with Chiltepin , jalapeños, tomatoes and onions. Tata Hector will put salsa on just about everything from eggs to steak and even on salads. Sometimes he will put salsa in spaghetti sauce.

Salsa can be made out of many ingredients including fruit (my friends rave about the Mango salsa at La Salsa) tomato, black bean even corn salsa.

At Chiplote, they offer four different types of salsa: Fresh Tomato (mild), Roasted Chili-Corn (medium), Tomatillo-Green Chili (medium) and Tomatillo-Red Chili (hot).

At Guadalajara Grill, which is located at 1220 E Prince Rd, the salsa is made fresh at right at your table. According to their website, they use three different types of chili’s, baked red plum tomato's, fresh garlic, cilantro, onions and a dash of salt.

Part of my family lives in the Washington DC area and when they come to visit, we always try take them for an authentic Mexican dinner. My aunt and uncle love going to Guadalajara Grill to experience the salsa that is made right at your table.

During my internship last spring at the Arizona Legislature, I came home for a weekend and wanted to do something special for my fellow interns, since we were working extremely hard: I made salsa!

I made a small dish of mild salsa. Fresh tomatoes, garlic, onion and Fire Roasted Hatch, New Mexico Green Chili's, which we buy at Safeway (we keep them in the freezer, so that they stay fresh longer) and a pinch of salt. It was nothing special but it was a hit. One of my fellow interns was from the Pacific Northwest and he just graduated from our neighbor to the north: ASU and he thinks that nothing good ever comes from Tucson expect for Eegees. He was impressed.

The recipe that I used has been in my family for years. My grandmother says this recipe is very simple and easy to change.


Ingredients:

Fire Roasted Hatch, New Mexico Green Chili
One large Tomato
One large white onion
Two garlic cloves
Salt to taste


Materials needed:

One sharp kitchen knife
One cutting board
One small mixing bowl

Prep time:

Less than 5 minutes

No cook time:

About 10 minutes to chop all of the ingredients.

Chop, mix together and add salt to taste.