Having a house has been a big deal for us for a lot of reasons (no more sharing laundry facilities! a garage! storage! a yard!) but for me I knew what I was most excited about having a house:

HAVING HERBS AT MY DISPOSAL FOR 1/100TH OF THE COST OF THE GROCERY STORE!

So here’s the deal–I love pesto. I love it so much. I will share my recipe sometime when I actually remember to take pictures of what I’m doing and how much I’m throwing into the food processor willy-nilly. But in the meantime, let my TWO HUGE POTS OF BASIL show you how much I love pesto.

{Note: I realize it is ironic for a girl that doesn’t eat pasta to love pesto so much. I usually cheat around once a year and make the most delicious al dente bowtie pasta with a heavy cream pesto sauce that would knock your socks off…crap…now I’m drooling…}

Anywho: So of course I planted two pots of basil…but I got a bit distracted when I was wondering the aisles of Home Depot picking out my herbs this spring. So instead of planting two basil plants, chives, rosemary, and mint like I planned, I instead decided that we would get MUCH more use out of jalepeno and serrano plants instead of the rosemary and mint.

So now fast forward a bit…this summer I have had basil and chives coming out of my ears and then these two pepper plants that were basically sun and water hogs (#lame). All season long these pepper plants just got taller and taller and produced NO peppers (#superlame). I was about ready to replace that pot with more basil (I know, I have a problem) when BOOM it happened: MY PLANT HAD PEPPERS!

And not just a few peppers…as of this week I all-of-a-sudden had like 20+ peppers that I needed to use.

Cue what I have dubbed “pepper panic“.

So, after I almost killed Tom adding three serranos to our eggs one day, I decided I needed to get creative.

Now, before I go any further, it’s worth noting that I come from a family that likes things so spicy “if your eyes aren’t watering it’s not spicy enough” and Tom comes from a family that prefers things more “Minnesota spicy.” Big difference.

While Tom’s taste buds have come a loooooong way since we’ve been a couple (primarily because my family doesn’t know how to make foods like chili and buffalo wings without at least a few ghost peppers), we still are working on finding a compromise for the appropriate “spice level” for our household.

So when I decided that making salsa would be the perfect way to use up my abundance of peppers and overgrown chives, I had to make sure I was careful. I wanted a salsa with a healthy kick…but not so much of a kick that it made my poor husband sick.

So…where’s the compromise?

Here’s our answer:

• Start with a “restaurant style” (read: fresh and mild) recipe base that has lots of fresh tomatoes to balance out the heat intensity
  • I use the Pioneer Woman’s recipe as a base–that woman can do no wrong. I also sort of want to be her best friend…even if she does do business with Walmart. Sigh. 

• Use lots of peppers, but de-seed half of them…and don’t add anything hotter than a serrano
  • All of the heat in peppers is in the seeds and the membrane–if you like it more mild, just discard the innards! 

| salsalaina |

{see what I did there? it’s very fun to say out loud. I even sometimes add a shimmy when I say it. because, well, why not?}

Serves: ALL OF THE PEOPLE. I swear this makes so much. At LEAST 10 Tom’s &  15 Alaina’s–it’s great for when you’re having people over!

Ingredients Needed:

• 3 small onions, peeled and quartered
• 1 bunch chives (~1/4 cup)
• 1 bunch cilantro (~1 cup), de-stemmed
• 2 jalepenos, stems removed
• 3 serranos, stems removed and de-seeded
  • If you want it hotter, leave the seeds in!
• 1  28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 cans low-sodium Rotel (you don’t need that salt!!)
• 2 tsbp. lime juice (~juice from one lime)
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
  • I know, what am I thinking?! Trust me–it’s needed to break the bitterness of the canned tomatoes. And broken out over 20+ servings…it’s nothing! 
• 1/4 salt, plus more to taste

Directions:

• Prepare your ingredients and be extra careful touching anything after you’ve touched the peppers–especially if you touch the seeds!
  • I may have learned this the hard way when I was younger and after cooking with ghost peppers hopped into the shower to wash my hair. MY SCALP WAS ON FIRE. BAD, BAD IDEA. 

• In a large food processor (at LEAST eight cups!) or Ninja-like blender, add all the ingredients in the order listed (it will help with the mixing)
  • As Ree says in her recipe I use as a base, you can always process the ingredients individually/in groups and mix together in a mixing bowl. This is why I love her recipes…so simple, yet so genius. Why overcomplicate life? 

• Pulse until ingredients are well-mixed, but not pulverized to a drippy liquid (~10-15 pulses)

• Taste and add salt to your own preference
  • If planning to eat with chips (which you should be), make sure you taste with a chip vs. just using a spoon. The chip will add salt so you don’t need to add as much to the salsa.

• Store in an airtight container
  • I like storing mine in carafes–perfect for entertaining or for whenever I get a jonesing to put it on eggs, a burger, nachos, etc.
  • It will last about a week in the fridge

This salsa is so good. It’s not too hot for people who can handle a little spice and it’s not too tomato-y for people who like it hot. It’s literally the perfect salsa for entertaining.

In fact, I’ve yet to serve it to company and NOT have the bowl look like this:

And, in case you’re wondering, Tom and I love it too. Since it makes so much, I end up stirring it into soups, using it as a sauce for chicken, pouring over eggs, and so much more. That said, we usually just buy a big bag of Way Better Sweet Potato Chips and go to town…because, why not? Life is short.

As an FYI, I’ve also had success freezing it…but, in all honesty, it’s never the same as when it’s fresh-made. So you should really just eat it all up…or find some friends who will. I guarantee you it won’t be hard!

That said, word of caution: make sure you don’t eat too much chips and salsa before you have dinner…or you’ll end up like Tom during date night last week:

I don’t think Tom not finishing his dinner this one time will keep him from eating this salsa in the future. At least I hope not…my pepper plant is still going crazy. There’s going to be lots more salsa in his future!

Here’s to making many more culinary compromises…all in the name of love.

xoxo,

alaina