Roasted Pepper Salsa

A basic salsa amped up with red bell pepper added and a slightly smoky boldness from being roasted.  It makes a great football snack.

My husband and I love salsa and homemade is the best.  I love having a food processor because it makes making salsa so easy.  I just throw the ingredients in, pulse a few times, and wha-la salsa.  Homemade salsa is so good and fresh too.  I also like making my own salsa because I can add plenty of garlic (we're garlic lovers in my house) and I can control the spiciness.  I like spice but my husband really likes spice.  Sometimes I wonder if his spicy tastebuds are dead but I enjoy trying to make things spicy enough for him (I usually can't eat them) or just to experiment with how spicy I like it because I know anything I can't handle he'll love.

This salsa isn't too spicy I used 2 jalapenos with the seeds but you can always remove those.  Most of all I love the flavors of the roasted vegetables.  I roasted everything but the cilantro and lime juice (although I might try roasting those too next time).  There is just something that happens when roasting that intensifies the flavors and makes food taste great.  If you have a hot grill available you could use that instead of the oven and I bet it would be great.

Roasted Pepper Salsa

Ingredients:

1 bell pepper, cored and seeded
2 jalapenos, with or with out the seeds and core
4 roma tomatoes, cored and seeded
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
juice of 1 lime
salt

Cut the peppers, tomatoes, and onion into approximately equal sizes, for even roasting.

Toss all the vegetables and garlic cloves in a little bit of oil then lay out in one layer on a baking sheet.

Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes until everything is very fragrant and browned on the edges.

Allow to cool slightly, then put it all in a food processor or blender.  Add the cilantro and a few pinches of salt.  Pulse until well mixed and desired consistency.

Lastly stir in the lime juice.  Let sit for at least 1 hour before serving so the flavors have a chance to meld (it tastes even better the next day).

Makes about 2-3 cups of salsa.

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