Recipe: Salsa

I tweaked Sally Fallon's recipe to get something that suited my family and I a little better.

The changes I made were as follows:

Less onion

Less garlic

Jalapeno pepper (instead of Chili pepper)

Addition of tomato paste for thickening

Addition of lime juice (instead of lemon juice only)

I include the tomato seeds - instead of seeding the tomatoes

I love that this wonderful condiment is able to undergo and be stored through a simple and natural fermentation process and I especially love that it enhances the salsa's digestibility, nutrition and flavor.

Here's the recipe:

Salsa

(makes enough to fill 2 1/2 quart jars)

20 small-medium sized tomatoes, peeled

1 cup onion, chopped

1/2 to 2 jalapeño peppers

(amount depends on how hot that particular pepper is)

6 cloves garlic

1 tsp oregano powder

Juice from one lime

Juice from one lemon

2 Tbsps sea salt

8 Tbsps whey

1/2 cup organic tomato paste or tomato puree

Large bowl to place chopped up mixture

Peel tomatoes by par-boiling them in boiling water.

This is done by getting an appropriate sized pot of water boiling. Place the tomatoes in the pot of water for 30 to 45 seconds. (Slightly yellow tomatoes will need to boil a little longer.)

Take tomatoes out and place them in a large bowl. Peel them one by one on a cutting board.

Now the tomatoes are ready to be chopped. They don't need to be chopped into tiny pieces since we'll be pulsing this salsa mixture in the blender. Chop and transfer to a large bowl.

Chop the onions, jalapeno peppers and garlic (these should be chopped pretty small). Transfer to large bowl.

Add oregano, juice from lemon and lime, salt, whey and tomato puree/paste. Mix together with a spoon. (If you don't have any whey just add another Tbsp of salt.)

Transfer half of the mixture into the blender. Pulse a few times until desired size of chunks form.

Transfer to clean quart sized jar. Place the lid on it tightly and let sit at room temp. for 3 days without opening. Lacto-fermentation begins within those three days. Taste and quality improves over time.

Most fermented foods stay good in cold storage for many months - as does this hearty salsa!

Enjoy!