The secret ingredients chosen for the Holiday Recipe Club‘s Cinco de Mayo blog hop were dulce de leche, tomatoes, and chorizo. For last month’s Easter blog hop, I went crazy and put a lot of effort into creating something with all three secret ingredients (carrot cracker treats with carrots, spinach, and eggs). This month, I’m totally cheating and taking the easy route by using this as an excuse to finally post my fresh salsa recipe that I won third place for at the fair last year.
My inspiration for the recipe came from my sister, Danielle, who usually only makes recipes that turn out things like soap, lip balm, or bath fizzies. But one edible thing she does make, and well, is fresh salsa. Her secret ingredient is orange juice, and while I didn’t follow her original recipe to a T, I did make sure to use some fresh orange juice in it. I also replaced the jalapeño with poblano, which is a mild pepper, sort of like a bell pepper with just a bit of kick to it. (I love spicy food but I was making this salsa for the “mild” category. The salsa also had to use fresh ingredients, which is why I didn’t just make my favorite salsa.) If you’d like a hotter salsa, dice up some seeded jalapeño instead!
The judges loved my salsa, but said it had a bit too much garlic, so I’ve adjusted the recipe to up it to blue ribbon status by cutting the garlic from four cloves (hey, what can I say, I love garlic!) to two (the amount in Dani’s original recipe–I should have listened to the expert!). But as with all recipes, just add amounts to suit your own tastes!
Fresh Mild Salsa
Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture
6 medium fresh tomatoes on the vine
1 poblano pepper, seeded and finely diced
½ large red onion, finely diced
½ a bunch of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1-2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
Juice from ½ a lime, ½ a lemon, and ½ an orange
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated pepper
Finely dice the tomatoes, removing the seeded pulp as you go, and place them in a wire mesh sieve set over a bowl to drain for five minutes. Discard juice, then stir the tomatoes and all other ingredients together in a large bowl. Store in the refrigerator.
Makes 2 pints.
Recipe source: adapted from Danielle Davis
Check out the other Cinco de Mayo recipes in the blog hop by clicking below!
Veronica's Cornucopia 
Oooh, I love your salsa version. I’ve never added a poblano pepper to my salsa before. Will have to give it a try.
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Mmmm, nothing beats a yummy salsa, of which yours is a prime example :D
Thanks!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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I could just eat a bowl of this salsa! So yummy! Great post for the HRC :)
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There is nothing better than fresh made salsa – yours looks fabulous!
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Fresh salsa is always so nice to have on hand. This looks wonderful. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
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Yum! Your salsa looks so refreshing and wonderful!! I love it!
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Your salsa looks amazing! Happy Cinco de Mayo!
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Great salsa! Happy Cinco de Mayo!
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Veronica – I could eat that whole bowl – as if it were soup! Love your new picture – you’re so pretty!
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More garlic (or cow bell)!
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That looks delicious! I love the fresh tang of home made salsa!
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I love homemade salsa, and yours is beautiful!
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Oh I love your photo! I’m all about the garlic too :) And I never ever would have known to use orange juice. Soooo gonna try that sometime. I bet you’d win first place next time!!! (even though I’d like it with more garlic probably too).
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sorry that last “anonymous” comment was from me, Desi! :)
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First of all, congrats on the winning salsa and who do those judges think they are? Too much garlic? No way! (And, I would have loved to have seen what you would have done with dulce de leche and chorizo and tomatoes in the same dish!) :)
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Hahaha, I don’t think I could ever pull something like that off…but it might be fun to try. ;)
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Great salsa! Mild, yet still so much flavour! Does the salsa need to marinate? Or can you eat it as soon as it’s put together?
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You can eat it right away. The flavors might be better if you let it sit overnight, but I don’t remember, sorry! All I know is I ate it right away, and then some the next day, and I liked it both times. :)
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I love salsa so much I could pretty much just sit around and eat it with a spoon! This one seems ultra delicious…so I’d pretty much just be pouring it from the bowl into my mouth.
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nice job, I however, would never discard the seeds or juices from the tomatoes, just toss them with some lemon juice, salt and pepper and slup them up!
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I know, right? I usually wouldn’t discard that part either, but did so for the sake of the appearannce since this was for a contest and the visual appeal was part of the judging. It’s not as pretty with the seeds and pulp, but it tastes just as good and what a waste to throw it out!
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Congrats on your SRC 1st anniversary win. I loved the Paris themed tile!!!!!!
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Wha? Wha? I won?? I had no idea! thanks for the heads up!
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Squee! I did win! I am going to have her paint a different tile for me, maybe to match my blog. so excited!
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This salsa sounds wonderful, I’m putting it on my to try list the next time I’m having fajitas!
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I love your hubby’s comment…lol!! ;) Your salsa looks great and I hope you get the blue ribbon this year!
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I knew you would–I almost even replied to him saying “Suzie’s gonna like your comment!” I still remember the “more cow bell” video you posted on myspace–before that, I’d never heard of it. lol THanks, Suzie!
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Ha ha ha…that’s hilarious V! ;)
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Thanks for adding me to the blog hop, I really appreciate it! I mean really, really do! I always use lime juice in my fresh salsa, I gotta try it with the OJ, if I was one of the judges you would have got first place, I’m all about the garlic! I almost always double it in recipes.
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You are so very welcome!! Had to help my HRC sister out. :)
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Yum! And I can totally see why using all 3 secret ingredients together this year wasn’t going to happen–I mean, dulce de leche + chorizo??? Eeeew! =)
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Yeah, I’m pretty sure that combo was never meant to be. :)
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yum, LOVE fresh salsa! I have never tried adding in citrus like that, I will have to experiment next time I make it, I just won’t tell the hubby because he would think that is too ‘weird’. Darn picky people.
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Oh yes I will be making this soon! With extra garlic too! Can’t get enough of it especially in salsa and bruschetta…apparently anything with tomatoes haha! Wonderful recipe!
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I love the addition of all that citrus V – so good! I may have to add that to my next batch of baja fresh salsa, although I was just telling my husband that I can’t wait for cherry season to make my grilled cherry salsa.
Hope you had a great weekend!
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Perfect salsa! We could practically live on the stuff around here!
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It’s so pretty. I am having Mexican for dinner tonight – wish I had a bowl of this right now!
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I love spicy food like you, so I’ll probably want to heighten the capsicum in this salsa. I love the virbancy of this salsa, Veronica. Would love this with some crackers and goat cheese crumbled on top…mm..
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looks like a very good salsa Veronica. with what would you match it?
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Tortilla chips, of course! :)
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I stood in the grocery store reading the packaging on this salsa for what felt like an eternity. I was looking for some sort of indicator on how spicy it waz since I have an ulcer. I never could find any indicator on the label so I purchased it anyway. I can say that it has great flavour however it is far too spicy for my tummy. Maybe a waste of money this time but a lesson to be learned.
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Since this is a recipe, and not a product purchased in a store, I’m not sure how to interpret your comment. I would make it with very little jalapeno or with poblano as a substitute, to make it more mild.
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