Baking with Olivia and Caroline

Salsa! This homemade recipe comes to you courtesy of Caroline. She first texted me back in June saying she had whipped up a batch. Living in North Carolina, she was harvesting tomatoes and peppers already. I was just planting mine in the garden! 

Caroline brought her homemade salsa into work to share with her coworkers. It was a huge hit – love at first dip! Her coworkers were obsessed, some said she should bottle it and sell it, others claimed they could eat it by the spoonful and skip the chips altogether! 

But here’s the real story: my first attempt at making it? Total flop. I didn’t want to eat it with a spoon or a chip; I wanted to toss it in the trash. 

Sometimes we have recipes that we know how to make over and over again but they have never been written down. Caroline had accumulated so many tomatoes that she was making salsa in huge batches and couldn’t give an accurate recipe that was scaled down. That’s the beauty of recipe-sharing though. When one of us comes up with something new, we make it, test it, give feedback, and decide if it’s good enough to share. We tweak until it’s right.

Well, I’m happy to report that we’ve got a winner now. And I hope you’ll agree when you try it.

Remember, salsa isn’t just for chips. It’s incredibly versatile. Use it on eggs, tacos, grilled meats, bowls, and so much more!

Maybe some of you are still harvesting fresh tomatoes and peppers from your gardens? If so, this is the perfect way to use them. As always, enjoy!

Ingredients

5-6 large tomatoes (should cover ½ of a full-sized sheet pan/baking tray)
2-3 jalapeños
4 large garlic cloves
1 large white onion
1 medium red onion
4-6 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp cumin
1.5 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 limes (¼ cup juice)
¼-½ cup cilantro (stems can be included)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit.

Slice tomatoes in half and place slice side up on one half of a sheet pan. Use enough tomatoes to fill one half of the tray. (The other ingredients can all fit on the other half.) Halve and de-seed jalapeños, placing them skin side up on the tray. 

Slice onions in half, halve lengthways again, and quarter into 1-2” chunks, adding them to the sheet tray. 

It helps to break up the onion chunks a bit too. Peel and add garlic cloves to the tray. 

Completely coat everything in olive oil and sprinkle seasonings, salt, and pepper on top. No need to mix anything together. 

Bake for 10 minutes and then turn the oven to broil until the vegetables are charred. The peppers will blacken first, followed by the onions and garlic, and then the tomatoes, which don’t always char at all. This normally takes about another 10 minutes, but will largely depend on your oven and how close the rack is to the broiler. Just keep a watchful eye on the tray. If some things are looking a little dry, you can add a touch more olive oil and continue to broil. 

Once sufficiently broiled, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Juice the lime(s) and add the lime juice, cilantro, and 1-2 tomato halves to the blender and blend until smooth. (This will chop up the cilantro without having to make the whole salsa like soup). Add the remainder of the sheet tray contents along with the juices to the blender or food processor and pulse until chopped but not super thin. Give it a stir to look for large chunks and check the consistency. Taste and add more salt, pepper, lime juice, or seasonings if needed. Pulse more if necessary. 

Add salsa to your storage container of choice and refrigerate for at least an hour (until cool). 

Our favorite way to enjoy it is simply with a good tortilla chip or on citrus-marinated steak tacos along with extra fresh chopped white onion, cilantro, and lime juice. 

Note: This recipe is very versatile and can be made using ratios only. The more diversity, the better. If you have leftover cherry tomatoes or a half yellow onion sitting in your fridge, add those too. Add any bell or spicy peppers dying in your fridge. As long as the sheet tray is at least 50% tomatoes and the rest is onions then peppers, it will (in my experience) always turn out delicious. •

Olivia and Caroline are enthusiastic foodies and bakers who are constantly in the kitchen, as well as explorers who create their own adventures in our area – and did we mention they are mother and daughter? Follow Olivia on Instagram to see her many creations at @oliviawvalentine.