Ridicously Simple Roasted Salsa

Stop paying five bucks for salsa at the store! Make this instead! This was taught to me by the amigos who manned the kitchen at one of the restaurants I used to work at. They made it almost every day for lunch and never got sick of it. It's about as fast and simple to make as anything you can imagine and is a fraction the cost of store-bought salsa (and is better). It also scales up easily for a big party. 

This salsa is also fantastic for smothering any type of Mexican food, particularly tamales. 

It's important to not try to get too fancy with this recipe. I’ve tried to sex it up by adding lime juice, cilantro, or onion and have just ended up ruining the salsa.

And remember, you’re charring the vegetables, so it’s a great way to use up tomatoes or jalapeños that are too far past their prime for other uses.

This salsa is traditionally from the northern states in Mexico and traditionally goes great with carne asada. But it's a great all-purpose salsa too. Heat wimps can substitute some or all of the jalapenos with Anaheim chilies. 

Prep time: 1/2 cocktail

5 whole tomatoes, vine ripened

2 whole jalapeños (or more for spicier salsa)

1 scant teaspoon salt

Make sure your grill surface is super clean. A shot of cooking spray is even a good idea, as it’ll keep the skins from peeling off the veggies. Grill the tomatoes and jalapeños until the skins are nice and blackened, turning occasionally. Don’t worry about burning the vegetables, even totally charred tomatoes and jalapeños make great salsa (just don’t under grill them).

If outdoor grilling is out of the question, you can roast the tomatoes and peppers in the oven. Set the vegetables on an oven rack with a foil-lined, oven-safe dish underneath to catch the drippings. Broil until the tomatoes and peppers are nice and blackened, turning occasionally with a tongs. (Note that without good ventilation, you may fill your house with smoke.)

Remove veggies from grill or oven and chop stems off jalapeños and tops off tomatoes, but DO NOT peel the veggies. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you reach the desired consistency.

Chill and serve.