Hola Mi Gente,
Every once in a while, I get in the kitchen and start cooking something by memory. Sometimes it’s a memory from a restaurant, other’s it’s a meal my parents cooked. But there is a really special kind of cooking that happens when I cook something I remember my Abuelita making.
My Abuelita lived in Guatemala, but spent about 6 months out of the year in the States while we were growing up. She split her older years between her Native Land, and the country that become home to half of her children. She would stay with us and feed us TOO much food, make messes just so she could clean them, marathon through Tom and Jerry with us at 1 PM every day, and wipe us clean of all our money in a Guatemalan betting game called perinola.
One of the things I remember most about her cooking, is that she would make these really simple tomato salsas. They would go on our tostadas, quesadillas, etc. And the process all started with a few tomatoes in a pot of boiling water.
As I was cooking a few weeks ago, I was making a meal that I thought might be good with a salsa, but I was almost done cooking, and didn’t have a lot of time. Enter the beautiful memory of my Abuelita’s salsas.
I built on her recipe a little bit, and added the usual suspects (cilantro, onion, lime, salt), and a particular type of dried hot pepper (you can find it in the bulk section of your grocery store, or in the international aisle next to the corn husks) that is perfect for adding minor heat (you can do this incrementally for a spicier result).
It all starts the same way as hers though: with a few tomatoes, and a pot of boiling water. After I made it that one time, Benjamin literally put it on EVERYTHING. So I figured I should share it with you, because we all need a good basic salsa. You can pair this beauty with quesadillas, tacos, chips, asadas, and so many other things! I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do 💛
love, love, love,
SAVE ON PINTEREST
15 Minute Salsa
Ingredients
- 5 Large Vine Tomatoes or 7 roma tomatoes
- 1/2 Onion
- 2 Dried Guajillo Peppers Stems Removed
- 1/3 Bunch Cilantro longer end of the stems chopped off
- 3 TBSP Lime Juice
- 1 TBSP Kosher Salt and more to taste if needed.
Instructions
- Place tomatoes, half onion, and peppers in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tomatoes are soft (about 6 minutes).
- Add tomatoes, onion, peppers, and the cilantro bunch in a blender. Add in the lime juice and salt, and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. You can add in more peppers to increase the heat of your salsa. As is, it is very mild (and I mean that, because I don't eat spicy things).
Mary-Beth Johnson
Mary-Beth is a creative, food-obsessed, Georgia transplant living Chicago. She is proudly and fiercely Latina, and more specifically Chapina. In her day to day she is a food educator to students around Chicagoland aged 3 to 80+, both virtually and in-person. She is passionate about cultivating the truth that every person has an understanding of food that deserves being brought to the table, and that time in the kitchen can be sacred, passionate, and an act of love for self and others. Outside the kitchen you can find her at the intersections of infertility, chronic illness, and a deep love for the dignity of all humans. She hopes to create a space that is holistic about the role of food in the social, political, relational, and physiological dynamics of our world.
