It’s Salsa Time! Again!

I live in Phoenix so spring weather comes early to our area. Outdoor festivals start popping up all over around the end of February and boy, do we have a variety of outdoor festivals. I figure since the weather is great, people start making up reasons to gather, so we celebrate just about everything imaginable.

We have Aloha festival, Greek festival, assorted food festivals and they are celebrated in an assortment of ways. Some festivals involve other cultures and traditions of that culture with dancing or clothing but almost all of the festivals involve food. 

One of my favorites is “Nana’s Salsa Challenge” and you guessed it….it is all about salsa. When I first heard about it I was skeptical. I kept wondering just how many kinds of salsa could there be and how many ways can you use a tomato. I was really curious so about 3 years ago we got free tickets and decided to give it a try. Tickets were normally only $10.00 but I’m incredibly cheap so free was what I needed.

So on a beautiful March afternoon, my husband, sister and I set out on our journey to explore, the world of salsa and just how many variations of salsa we could find. What a surprise!

We found the definition of salsa was indeed broad and often questionable. The only thing most of them had in common was they had some kind of heat or spice level. There were your classic tomato and tomatillo salsas, as well as fruit and every imaginable vegetable. What a variety! Everyone was asked to pick their favorite since the cash prize for the winner was based on votes. What a tough decision. The winner ended up being a traditional salsa, with tomatoes and chilies but it sure answered my question about how many ways can you make salsa?

Anyway……along the way we heard about a local restaurant, called Macayo’s that sponsored a salsa contest in conjunction with the festival. I decided to create a recipe that stretched the limit of salsa and ended up with a salsa which had mango, strawberries and honey, as well as jicama and jalapenos for heat. They liked it too and I won first place and dinner at Macayo’s, once a month for a year. The next year, my daughter and I entered and I won 2^nd place and a gift card. My daughter won 1^st place and we had dinner at Macayo’s for another year. So this year my husband decided to enter. This year my daughter won second place and my husband won third place. I did not win but I am already planning recipes for next year. We will use our winning gift cards and will still get to enjoy Macayo’s this year plus we got to attend a tequila dinner and discover just how many different flavors of tequila there are. Maybe next year we will have a festival for that.  

You never know……like I said Spring comes early when you live in Phoenix and it would be interesting tasting all the ways you could make tequila.

For now…..here are some of “My” salsa recipes 

           

Confetti Corn and Avocado Salsa

2 cups fresh or frozen corn, 1-2 tomatoes, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced

1 small red or green bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup Italian dressing

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 small avocados, peeled, chopped

Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Pineapple Salsa Verde

5-6 tomatillos, husks removed and roughly chopped

1 onion, 1/2 chopped and 1/2 diced

2-3 jalapeno or serrano peppers, seeded, chopped

2 limes, juiced and zested

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup fresh pineapple, chopped

In a saucepan combine tomatillos, chopped onion, peppers, lime juice and zest. Cook over medium heat, 8 to 10 minutes or until tomatillos are tender. Remove from heat and add salt and sugar. Cool slightly and place mixture in a food processor with the pineapple, cilantro and diced raw onions. Process to a coarse puree. Chill at least 2 hours before serving.