Good morning tomato lovers. JULIE here from Red head can decorate sharing the best homemade salsa in town! It’s the first day of school here in Michigan, so I’m a little lonely. It’s just me and my kitty, Sylvia today.

I am so excited to be in invited over to Debbiedoo’s again.

Come on Debbie, the kids are at school, lets do this!

While growing up in Buffalo, NY we never had salsa in the house.

In fact, I don’t even remember it being in the stores back then.

Chi’s Chi’s was the only Mexican restaurant for miles.

Nowadays, salsa is everywhere.

Including on my kitchen island when we have friends over.

Whether it’s store-bought, or homemade, it’s good for you, so we should eat it often.

Just look at these beauties…

Every August our family heads out to the farm and we go tomato picking.

This year was no exception, but our trip to the farm didn’t turn out quite the way we had planned.

I tell you all about that fun day here: “Rotten Tomato Picking“.

To sum it up quickly, the tomatoes up there were not picked by us, but they were certainly still salsa worthy.

Usually, after we get our tomatoes home, we lay them out on the counter and sort them according to who’s the ripest.

Those are the guys we use for our salsa.

When I prepare this, I use a food processor.

If you don’t have one, you can use a blender.

We prefer very authentic style salsa, without a lot of heat.

It’s thin, it’s salty, and you will become addicted.

You can of course alter any of the salt and heat according to your preference.

So lets make some salsa!

Fresh Tomato Salsa

(perfect for an appetizer for 6)

Ingredients:

8 large Roma tomatoes with skin (or any medium tomato)

1 green bell pepper

½ cup red onion

½ cup vidalia onion (sweet onion)

1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt

5 tablespoons white vinegar

fresh lime juice from 1 lime

5 cloves of garlic

crushed red pepper (very little)

¼ cup fresh chopped parsley

½ cup fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:

Cut washed tomatoes in ½ and add to food processor. I keep the skin on for nutrients, and no one can tell. Wash bell pepper and take out the seeds. Cut in big wedges and place in food processor with tomatoes. Slice onion in wide pieces and add it to the mixture as well. Peel garlic and add whole cloves. Add salt, vinegar, lime juice, and a dash or 2 of crushed red pepper. Pulsate food processor until everything is diced up well. We like ours thin, but if you like it chunky, just don’t pulsate for too long. Add fresh parsley and cilantro last and pulsate a couple more times. This is making my mouth water. If it’s too salty, add another tomato. Not salty enough, add vinegar and/or salt. Adjust red pepper flakes as well. Serve with your favorite tortillas.