Secret, Schmecret!

What with so many of you braving the winter elements while we enjoy perfect sunny, cool day after perfect, sunny cool day I find myself feeling seriously generous. Combine that with my good fortune of having recently found my local grocer to start stocking serrano peppers and I can't help but share with each of you a little taste of summer. Here's how to turn this, a basket of beautiful, fresh produce
into this,

my Super Top Secret AMAZING Salsa recipe!

4 serrano peppers, seeded and chopped
2 jalepeno peppers, seeded and chopped
6 tomatillos, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 Tbs lemon juice
1Tbs garlic, roasted
½ lg. onion, chopped
2 Tbs Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
1 tsp ground blk pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground red pepper flakes
6 lg. tomatoes, ugly or beefsteak

I like to use my food processor for a true restaurant style salsa, not chunky, and find that two plastic 2qt pitchers work reeeally well with the mixing at the end with a lot less mess than before i discovered this method!

Roast your garlic in your usual manner. Everybody does this differently but i don't know anyone who doesn't love the smell of roasting garlic enveloping them as they walk past the kitchen.

With gloved hands, seed and chop serranos and jalepenos and place in processor. If you don't have gloves, i've found that covering your hands with sandwich baggies works in a pinch but don't do this unprotected! i can tell you from experience that soap and water? ain't gonna save your face from the burn after you touch it, no matter how many times you try washing away the heat.

also, there's a lot of heat in those seeds your removing. you won't need to toss any in this recipe for a hot salsa, this one has plenty of kick without a single one. (don't say i didn't warn ya! ;)

chop tomatillos and cilantro and add to processor. add all other ingredients but the tomatoes and pulse in processor until blended. pour this green goodness into one of the pitchers. core and chop tomatoes, place in processor and pulse until desired consistency. pour this into the second pitcher. pour from one pitcher to the other until you've thoroughly mixed the contents of both. depending on the size of your tomatoes/tomatillos, this will make anywhere from 4-6 pints of the best salsa ever! also, if you wanna back off the heat a little, reduce the amount of red pepper flakes to suit your taste buds.

i could eat this stuff with a spoon but feel free to serve with tortillas, top burritos, tacos, or, my favorite, top a baked potato with broccoli and then salsa. i hope it warms you and teases your tummies with the taste of summer!

and here's a shot of those lasagna noodle rolls i whipped up the other day. while i really hate using white flour anything, i hate wasting food more, and these babies needed to be used. This one is the tofu basil ricotta and tempeh sausage with shredded zucchini version with a side of, you guessed it, Garlicky Roasted Brussel Sprouts.
i'd love to find some whole wheat lasagna noodles and make these again and again but next time? i'll totally omit the tempeh sausage. the flavor just stood in the way of the rest of the ingredients. I also find that the Lightlife Wild Rice Tempeh has a bitterness that poaching does not seem to get out. maybe a better, less bitter tempeh would produce better results?