K’s Kitchen: Salsa without fresh tomatoes

By Kathryn Reed

There was a time when the only kind of salsa you could buy was in a jar. And it seldom had much flavor.

Now there are a ton of fresh salsas on the market that can satisfy most any taste.

But sometimes a homemade salsa is what tastes best. But what do you do when it’s not tomato season? The recipe below is the answer to that question. Canned tomatoes this time of year have more flavor than those waxy things being sold in the grocery store. It’s also easier to open a can than it is to dice tomatoes.

This version is rather mild – in my opinion – but ideal if you are sharing with others when you don’t know how much heat they can take. Salsa is also one of those things that just gets better the longer the ingredients meld. For that reason, I would recommend making this at least a day before you plan to use it.

While I used a fresh jalapeno, you could use canned.

Salsa (makes 5 cups)

2 14 ounce cans stewed tomatoes

1 8 ounce can tomato sauce

1 large onion, finely chopped

5 green onions, finally chopped

7 ounces diced chiles

3 cloves garlic, minced

¼ C cilantro, chopped

½ tsp ground cumin

1 large jalapeno, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together. Cut tomatoes so they are bite (or chip) size.