Greatest (and easiest) cooked salsa ever.

I saw my sis-in-law make this a few months ago, and I was blown away by how good and easy it is.  For the record, I'm not sure I am making it exactly the same way she did, but who cares!  It's really yummy, and isn't that all that matters?  Now let's get to it:

•   1 container grape or cherry tomatoes (I think the orange ones taste the best) or 1 pint fresh from your garden
•   1 clove garlic
•   1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (from the can--I freeze the leftovers)
•  A little olive oil
•  salt, to taste

Turn the heat to medium-high on the stove, and throw a non-stick pan on the burner.  Drizzle a little olive oil in the pan (or use broth if you are avoiding oil/extra fat) just to coat the bottom.  Throw the garlic clove in.  When the garlic is fragrant, add all the tomatoes at once (don't burn yourself!) and toss around the pan a bit.  Keep the heat up pretty high while you cook the tomatoes, remembering to shake the pan here and there so they don't stick.  When the tomatoes start to look roasted (browning a bit here and there), salt them and turn off the heat.  Throw everything in your pan directly into the blender, and add the chipotle pepper too.  Turn that blender on high till the salsa is smoooooooooth.  Done.
(NOTE: If you are spice-sensitive, you may want to use 1/4 or 1/2 a pepper instead)

I LOVE this salsa with baked corn chips, or as a sauce with burritos, avocados, or on wraps.
It will keep in the fridge for about 4 days, but it won't last that long because you will eat it quick.
My dude puts it in fish tacos with a vinegary cabbage slaw and sliced avocados.

Green Salsa

Over the years I've become a big fan of tomaillos.  Funny, because I planted one when I first moved here.  The thing grew wild and produced so many tomatillos--but I had no idea what to do with them!  Oh how I wish I had that plant now, because if I did, I would just make jars and jars of this delicious green salsa.

Take 1 cup red wine vinegar and bring it to the boil in a saucepan.  Reduce heat, and add 1 small diced red onion.  Simmer 1 minute longer, then remove from heat.  Add 6 (peeled & washed) chopped tomatillos, and stir to make sure they are all covered in the vinegar.  Let stand one hour.

Once the hour is up, throw everything into the blender and add the following:
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
salt to taste

Blend on high till smooth.  Of course, you may alter the amounts of the herbs/spices to suit your tastes.  Play around!

Serve at room temp.  This will keep in the fridge for 5 days.
Yummy over tacos, eggs, or just plain with tortilla chips.

NOTE:  I actually add the tumeric AFTER everything comes out of the blender, because it has a tendency to stain the plastic blender cup.

Uncle Jim's Olive Tapenade

For my daughter's 4th birthday this year, I kept the menu simple by just putting out tons of amazing breads and spreads.  One of the biggest hits was Uncle Jim's olive tapenade.  He made it when we were in NYC a few weeks ago, and I was so excited to learn that this was a homemade item (as they are expensive to buy already prepared).

Here is the super simple recipe:
3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I just used one clove)
1 Tablespoon drained capers

Zip them up in the food processor.  While it's going, drizzle in about 2 TB olive oil (the original recipe called for 1/4 cup!  but Jim says he never uses that much) and 1 TB fresh parsley.
That's it!!
This needs to be served at room temp. 
I made a double batch, and it kept nicely in the fridge for a few days.

White Bean Dip, version 2

I posted an earlier version of white bean dip, but I this one is my current favorite.
I love bean dips in the summer when it's hot outside. They are quick to make, healthy, and require very little clean up.

1 can cannellini beans (or similar)
1 clove garlic
tahini
water
sea salt
Crystal hot sauce
lemon juice (optional)

Drain & rinse your beans, then throw them in the blender or VitaMix. Throw in the peeled garlic clove, and add a few pinches of salt. Now get 2 heaping tablespoons of tahini and add those. Add a few glugs of hot sauce, and about 1/4 cup of water. Turn on the blender, and add more water as needed to loosen up the mixure and get it to a "dip" consistancy. Stores in the fridge for a week, and you can serve it with pita, pretzels, rice crackers, etc.

PS--Of course you could use some other brand of hot sauce if you like. In my opinion, there is no brand finer than the blue and white labeled Louisiana Crystal Hot Sauce. It's not too hot, and it tastes great on everything.