Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Spicy Pureed Vegetable Salsa


This is a recipe that I picked up at the Duluth Farmers Market several years ago.  And the recipe really does puree the final product.  I used onions, hot peppers, carrots, and tomatoes from Tom's vegetable garden.  The pepper I used was much hotter than I realized, so this pureed salsa was full of Pzazz! But it is fabulous used as a dip for mild corn chips, and I even put it on my scrambled egg whites one morning. And one day I mixed it with some baked winter squash.  Pzazz in so many ways.

The tomato crop this year was unbelievable!  We harvested more than 200 tomatoes and Tom made a roasted tomato salsa for himself that was great, too.  I also cooked tomatoes with garden onions and peppers, then pureed them and stuck them in the freezer to use for a variety of soups this winter.  I'm thinking a pureed black bean and tomato soup might be delish!  I'll experiment on that and get back to you.  As you can see from the photos below, we had an abundance of tomatoes.  Tom chose all heirloom seeds and had about 10 varieties. Nope, they aren't as pretty as store-purchased tomatoes, but the flavor can't be beat!   And remember the information I posted by Barry Estabrook about "Tomatoland".  Disgusting on many levels.  


Yellow tomatoes

Black tomatoes

Harvest from Sept 29 alone!

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
    1/2 cup diced onions
    1/2 cup diced celery
    1/2 cup diced carrots
    1 large clove garlic, minced
    1/4 cup chopped seeded hot pepper (more or less depending on the level of Pzazz you want!)
    1 1/2 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 
    1/2 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
    3 cups finely chopped fresh tomatoes (I used a mixed variety of types)
    1/4 cup wine vinegar
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon sugar

Preparation:
Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onions celery, carrots, garlic and peppers. Saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add parsley, cilantro, tomatoes, vinegar, salt and sugar. Simmer for 45 minutes.Allow to cool slightly. Then blend to a smooth puree in a food processor or blender or use an immersion stick if the pan is deep enough. Return to saucepan and simmer for another 30 minutes. 

Nutrition  per serving:
Golden Tomato
Servings per recipe: 16
Serving Size: 2 Tablespoons
Calories: 24
Total Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 76 mg
Total Carbs: 3 g
Dietary Fiber: 1 g
Protein: 1 g