Instant Gratification Salsa

Were it not for me, the tortilla chip industry might go under.  There are always bags of them in the pantry. Big bags.  If not, my husband begins to spiral downward  into his "where's my chips and salsa" panic mode, and I don't like it when that happens, so to keep his panic devils away, I just make salsa to go with his tortilla chips, and he's a happy guy. 

What used to be my emergency back-up salsa has pretty much turned into my all-the-time version just because we like it so much, and it's so easy and quick to make.  It's nothing like the old version, for canning purposes, using all fresh ingredients and spending a few hours in the kitchen getting it done.  This stuff just goes right into the fridge, where it will keep for 3 weeks, but it never lasts that long. 

I start out by grabbing 4 cans of tomato products out of the pantry.  I go with 1 mild and 1 regular can of Rotel tomatoes, and 2 cans of Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted ones.  I really love this brand of fire roasted tomatoes in this salsa because it adds a great smoky flavor - so much better than any other brand I've used.  Next, I drain the two cans of fire roasted tomatoes until most of the liquid is out, then I dump all 4 cans of tomatoes into the food processor. I don't drain the Rotel tomatoes. 

After that, I toss in some salt (not quite a teaspoon... I use the "palm measure" method), about a  tablespoon of sugar (yes, sugar!!!), and about a tablespoon of lime juice.  Finally, I add 3/4 of a scoop of Simple Salsa and process it to the degree of smoothness I want it to be at.  All that's left to do is taste it, adjust the salt, sugar, Simple Salsa amounts if necessary, and I'm done.  I jar it up into wide mouth jars and into the fridge it goes. 

                     

You can add anything you want to this... onions, jalapeno peppers, fresh cilantro... use all regular or even hot Rotel tomatoes... but I don't.  We just really like this smoky, slightly sweetened version.  Whatever you do, don't forget the salt!  The nice thing about making any salsa is that you can start with lesser amounts of the spices and taste your way up to eventual perfection as you increase the ingredients to your liking.  If you don't have any left to jar up by the time you're done doing that, uh.... oh well, you won't have any jars to wash, right?

I discovered Simple Salsa at a booth they had at a local garden show.  I bought 2 canisters of it, one mild, one not.  I've had to re-order via their site, which is http://simplesalsamix.com
It can be added to soups, stews, dips, steaks, chicken, fajitas... it's not just for salsa.  It's good stuff!

No panic devils are getting the best of me!