The story below is from our July/August 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Photos by Ashley Cuoco
Editor’s Note: Becky is bringing her recipes to life in our new cooking videos on our YouTube page! Watch her SALSA SEASON video below!
When my summer garden is lush with tomatoes, peppers and herbs, I can’t wait to make salsa.
Salsa translates to “sauce” in Spanish, but in the United States we tend to think of salsa as tomato based. I use a molcajete (the traditional Mexican version of the mortar and pestle) to make my traditional tomato salsa.
If you don’t have time to make your own salsa, there are several made-in-Virginia salsas that are delightful. Gunther’s Salsa, made in Virginia (Salsa Fresca is my favorite because it tastes so fresh) is available at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op and Food Lion. Wine Gourmet sells their Medmont Mercantile salsas — mango lime, peach, blueberry and tomatillo salsa verde.
Molcajete Roasted Tomato Salsa
Makes 1 ½ cups
- 1½ pounds heirloom tomatoes (or fresh garden tomatoes), cored and cut into fourths
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- Tostitos Cantina Thin and Crispy Tortilla Chips
Place tomato pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cut side down. Place garlic cloves next to tomatoes on baking sheet. Broil in oven until tomatoes are charred (approximately 5-8 minutes). Remove garlic cloves when they begin to turn light brown. Remove tomatoes from oven and allow to cool.
Chop tomatoes into small pieces. Place in malcajete.
Chop garlic and add it to the molcajete. Use pestle to grind garlic and tomatoes.
Add onion, lime juice and cilantro to molcajete. Grind with pestle.
Add salt and sugar to tomatoes and grind with pestle to combine all ingredients.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.
In addition to classic tomato based salsa, I like to make salsas of all kinds – mango, queso blanco (white cheese), salsa verde (tomatillo). The variations are limited only by our imagination. Queso Blanco is especially delicious served on quesadillas.
Fresh vegetables make a colorful topping for quesadillas. Calabacitas (which translates to “little squash” in English) is a Mexican dish made from sautéed zucchini or squash, corn, tomatoes and peppers.
Queso Blanco Chicken Quesadillas Topped with Calabacitas
Makes 4 quesadillas
- 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons Tajin Clásico seasoning
- 2 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ small onion
- 2 “on the vine” tomatoes, cored and charred
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese
- ¼ cup half and half
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 large burrito-sized flour tortillas
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 8 tablespoons vegetable oil
Place chicken breasts on a cutting board and pound them with a meat mallet until they are very thin fillets.
Place chicken fillets in a shallow dish. Brush chicken breasts on both sides with vegetable oil, and drizzle any remaining vegetable oil over chicken breasts. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with Tajin Clásico seasoning. Cover and place in refrigerator while making the rest of the dish.
- To make the queso blanco: To roast poblano peppers, remove the core from the peppers and place peppers on a baking sheet. Broil peppers until charred, turning under broiler to char all sides. Remove peppers from oven and place in a brown paper bag. Close bag and allow to sit for 30 minutes. Remove peppers from bag and peel peppers by scraping off peel with a knife. Cut peppers in half, remove seeds and rinse gently to remove all bits of seed and skin.
- To char tomatoes: Cut tomatoes in half and place cut side down on baking dish. Broil until tomatoes are charred. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cut core and seeds out of tomato then scrape off loose peel from tomato with knife.
Melt butter in a saute pan. Add onion and cook over medium heat until onions are translucent and beginning to turn brown. Remove from heat.
Place charred poblano peppers, charred tomatoes, onion, cream cheese, half and half and salt in a blender container. Blend until smooth (some tiny pieces of the vegetables may remain).
Place vegetable oil in a grill pan and spread with a pastry brush to coat the pan. Heat the pan over medium-high heat and place marinated chicken breasts in the pan. Cook on one side and then flip to cook the other side. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Cut chicken into thin strips.
- To assemble quesadillas: Place one tortilla on a baking sheet. Spread 4 tablespoons (or more if needed to cover tortilla) queso blanco on the tortilla. Place chicken strips on top of the queso blanco on the tortilla and sprinkle with ¼ cup Monterey Jack cheese. Fold the tortilla in half. Place 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a frying pan. Heat vegetable oil until just sizzling. Place folded tortilla in pan and allow to heat until lightly browned and crispy on one side. Flip tortilla and brown the other side.
Place quesadilla on serving plate. Cut each quesadilla into four triangles with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Serve warm topped with calabacitas.
To make the calabacitas:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ red bell pepper, chopped into small pieces
- ¼ cup onion finely chopped
- Kernels from one fresh ear of cooked corn on the cob
- 1 small zucchini, peeled and chopped into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- ½ teaspoon Peg’s Pink Salt
Melt butter in sauté pan. Add red bell pepper and onion and cook over medium heat until onions are translucent and beginning to turn brown. Add corn, zucchini, cilantro, lime juice and salt. Stir and cook until zucchini is just beginning to cook, but is still crunchy, about 1 minute.
Fresh Mango Salsa
Serve with roasted or grilled pork, grilled shrimp or hint of lime tortilla chips.
4 servings
- 2 ripe large mangos, peeled and pitted, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 small jalapeno, seeds removed, finely chopped
- ½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon honey
Place mango, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice in a mixing bowl. Stir. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with honey. Toss to combine all ingredients. Cover and chill until service.
Watermelon Lime Agua Fresca
Makes 2½ quarts
- 4 cups seedless watermelon (or watermelon with seeds removed)
- ½ cup water
- 4 tablespoons agave nectar
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Ice
Puree watermelon and water in a blender until smooth. Add agave nectar and blend to combine.
Strain watermelon puree through a strainer or mesh sieve, discard any solids.
Add lime juice and sea salt to watermelon puree. Stir to combine. Transfer to a large pitcher. Cover and refrigerate until service.
To serve: Pour agua fresca into a tall glass. Add ice and lightly stir.
El Diablo Cocktail
This sweet, tart and spicy cocktail was inspired by my friend Judy Gearing’s recipe. She always makes fabulous creative cocktails!
Makes one cocktail
- 1½ ounces tequila reposado
- ½ ounce crème de cassis
- ¾ ounce lime juice
- 3 ounces ginger beer
- 2 blackberries and lime wheel for garnish
Place the tequila, crème de cassis and lime juice in a highball glass.
Top with ginger beer and stir gently. Garnish: place one blackberry on a cocktail pick, followed by a lime wheel and another blackberry. Place cocktail pick over the top of the highball glass.
The story above is from our July/August 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
