Blackened Tomato Salsa

My sister in law asked if I knew of any good salsa recipes. Well this is it. I could not just give her the recipe, it was too hard to just think about it, so I had to make some too. It is a recipe my dad makes every time I see them, and I love it so much, I could eat it with a spoon.

Ingredients:

8 roma tomatoes, cut in half
1 jalapeno, seeded and cut in half. (leave seeds in if you want more heat)
1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
A few squirts of lime juice
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cumin
a pinch of mexican oregano
1/4 cup white onion, finely diced
1 roma tomato diced small
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Place 8 tomatoes and jalapeno on a rimmed baking sheet, cut side down. Cook under a broiler until skins are blackened. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.

Put blackened tomatoes and jalapeno (black skins and all) into a blender, poor any juices that are on the pan too. Add salt, cumin, mexican oregano, garlic and and lime juice and blend until mostly smooth. Add a little water if needed.

Poor pureed mixture into a large bowl and combine with the diced tomato, onion and cilantro. Add water needed. Taste test with a chip to make sure you have enough salt, add if needed.

This salsa is awesome fresh but gets even better as it sits for a few hours and is amazing the next day.

Hummus

We love hummus. When we moved to Pennsylvania, Tyson bought me a food processor and some Tupperware. The food processor I have been wanting for a lot of years, and I had been telling him that I could make homemade hummus if I had one. The Tupperware we desperately needed. Now I make homemade hummus all the time and put it in the same Tupperware container every time..... I wonder who Tyson really bought those gifts for?


Ingredients:

3 cups cooked chickpeas, or 2 15 ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained and warmed in the microwave
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup tahini

salt and pepper if desired

Directions:

Puree warm chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic and 2/3 cup water in food processor for 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl when necessary. Add tahini and puree 2 more minutes, or until the mixture has the consistency of soft cream cheese. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water if needed.

Directions on how to cook dried chickpeas:

(hummus has the best flavor and texture if you use dried chickpeas. Any leftover chickpeas can be frozen)

Rinse and Drain 1 pound dried chickpeas. Place in a large bowl with 10 cups water and soak overnight.
Drain chickpeas and rinse and drain again. Bring chickpeas to boil with 10 cups of water in large pot. Reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 90 minutes. After the first hour stir in 1 teaspoon baking soda. Remove from heat, cover pot and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain well.

Black Eyed Pea Salsa

1 can each of:
black eye peas
black beans
corn
diced tomatoes (or use fresh)
diced jalapeno (4oz, or to taste, or use fresh)


1/2 onion diced
1/2 bell pepper diced
1 cup zesty Italian dressing
1/2 tsp garlic salt
pepper

mix together and refrigerate for an hour or two.

Serve with tortilla chips

Probably my most requested recipe. !!