Roasted Salsa (or not)

The big mistake

Okay, so I had let my tomatoes get a little soft and the Jalapenos turn red, trying to remember to purchase cilantro the next time that I went to the grocery store and that ended up being a long time. So when I finally got the cilantro, I had these questionable ingredients to go with it. So I decided to roast the tomatoes, hopefully offsetting the lack of firmness. Then I thought about it and decided to roast the onion, too. Next I thought, what the heck, I"ll throw in the red Jalapenos. I drizzled all of them with olive, sprinkled on salt and pepper, and roasted the whole pan at 250 degrees for about 3 hours.  When I combined everything, it was so good I could hardly wait to serve it the next day. That will be another story for another day.  I hope you try this recipe both roasted and fresh.  Both ways are excellent!  You will need to preheat the oven to 250 degrees if you are roasting the salsa.

3 large salad tomatoes or 6 Roma tomatoes
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
3 Red Jalapenos, seeded and ribs removed(or not, if you like salsa hot)
1 large bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
1 to 3 limes
salt and pepper to taste

If you are roasting the salsa, do not chop the tomatoes, onion or jalapenos until you have finished roasting them.  Put the tomatoes, onion, jalapenos in a pan, drizzle with vegetable oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, roast about 3 hours.  When you have let the tomatoes, onion and jalapenos cool enough to handle them, roughly chop and put in a serving bowl.  Remember that the tomatoes will still be juicy and the juice will remain hot to the touch longer than the outside of the tomato.
Add the cilantro and squeeze 1 lime over entire mixture and stir.  Keep adding enough lime until you get it to the point that you like it.  I say this because some limes have more juice than others.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 
As I mentioned previously, you can make this salsa without roasting it, just chop everything and mix it together.  It is just as delicious just in a different way.
Now all you need is some chips or tortillas.

Enjoy!

Deloris