Salsa de Fuego (Fire-Roasted Salsa)

Serves a party
Vegan

Stop buying jarred salsa!!!! It’s packed with tons of preservatives and salt, and it is nowhere near as good as homemade. Trust me. This fire roasted version will make the plastic stuff seem like spicy tomato sauce. Make ahead and let it sit for a few hours in the refrigerator because the flavors will intensify over time.

3 lbs tomatoes (if it is tomato season, try using the brilliant yellow and orange ones too)
1 head of garlic, cleaned and cloves left intact
2 jalapeno peppers
salt & pepper
olive oil
1 yellow or purple onion, diced
1-2 large bunches of cilantro (you can use other herbs as well, but cilantro is most traditional)
2 or 3 limes, juice and zest
Optional: 1 avocado, 1 can of black beans, a few handfuls of frozen or fresh corn, cut off the cob,
or a few handfuls of cut up mango or pineapple

Preheat your oven to 375°.

Put the whole tomatoes, the garlic cloves, and the jalapeno peppers in a large baking dish. Drizzle them with olive oil and dust them with salt and pepper. Roast them in the oven until the tomatoes begin to pop and get soft, and the garlic and peppers begin to brown (about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your tomatoes).

Meanwhile, dice the onion, chop up the cilantro, and zest the limes (and prepare any of the other optional ingredients listed above).

Remove the veggies from the oven once they have begun to soften. Roughly chop the tomatoes and garlic and put them in a bowl. Chop one of the peppers and taste it. If it seems tame, chop up the rest of the peppers and add them to the tomatoes and garlic. If it is pretty spicy, just add one, and save the rest for another dish. Remember, you can always add more spice, but you can never remove it.

Add the onion, cilantro, the zest and the juice from the limes. Mix everything together and taste it. Does it need more salt or pepper? Does it need more heat? Re-season accordingly.

If you are going to add any of the optional ingredients, do so now, and make sure to re-season accordingly.

Serve with a big bowl of tortilla chips, fresh corn tortillas layered with melted cheese, on top of roasted veggies, or on top of the Mexican-ish Lasagna.

*Tip* Do you really like the flavor or Jalapenos, but don’t want all the heat? Most of the heat comes from the seeds and the inner veins of the peppers. If you remove them, you will be left with that great Jalapeno taste, but a lot less fuego (fire).