Description
Add a little extra smokiness to your favorite Mexican snack by smoking all your veggies before blending them into a delicious salsa!
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- Tomatoes (3-4)
- Red Onion (1)
- Vidalia onion (1)
- Red Bell Pepper (1)
- Green Bell Pepper (1)
- Corn cobs (2)
- Jalapeños (6 again, this can vary on how much heat you want)
- Garlic (1 head or 8 cloves)
- One bunch of cilantro
- Salt
- Pepper
- Lime
Wood Used: Any flavor of wood chips
Grill Temperature: 225-250
Smoke time: 1-2 hours
Instructions
- Preparation is super simple for this cook. We will first peel and cut the onions in half since they are the densest and we will want the smoke to be able to penetrate them. We will also want to cut the top off the garlic clove and drizzle some olive oil on top so it will essentially bake into it giving it some extra flavor. Then just husk the corn, wash all the rest of the veggies and that’s it! (I told you this was super simple.)
- We will place all the veggies on the smoker over indirect heat with wood chips (any kind you like) at 225-250 for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours depending on how much smoke flavor you would like. Remember that the longer the salsa sits, the more smoke flavor it will develop. So if you plan on making some to eat for later in the week, I would limit it to about 1 hour, but if you plan on eating it all right after it comes off the grill, go ahead and let all that smokey goodness soak in for a full 2 hours!
- This is probably the most time-consuming part and it still only took me 15 minutes! Once we pull the veggies off the smoker, you'll want to cut the corn off the cob and put the kernels into a bowl. Next, peel the skin off the tomatoes and garlic. For the rest of the veggies, we want to just quarter them so they will mix better when we blend them. Next, depending on how much heat you want, you can de-seed the jalapenos, or if you like it extra spicy, you can leave the seeds in there.
- Now we just throw all the veggies (except the corn) into a blender or a food processor with one bunch of cilantro and let it pulse until it gets to your preferred thickness. You will notice that a lot of water may come off the tomatoes and it will be a bit more liquidy than what you purchase at the grocery store or get at your favorite Mexican restaurant. So if you don’t like that, simply pour into a strainer and let the excess water drain out and voilà you have a chunkier salsa
- Now place the salsa in a bowl and squeeze a little lime juice in there, season with salt and pepper, throw some tortilla chips on the table and let your guests dig in!
Notes
Feel free to add whatever veggies you like to alter the flavor. If you want more spice, add some habanero, if you like more sweet, add some mangos. The choices are endless and the combinations will give you something to play with over time.
