5-Minute Salsa

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I watched my husband pull tortillas, cheddar cheese, and black beans from the fridge. Then he started searching for something else. "We're out of salsa," I told him. Man, was he disappointed. I wasn't feeling so hot, but he was looking pretty sad. "I could make some real quick," I offered (I just happened to have cilantro and jalapenos in the fridge). He tried to not look too hopeful, "You could?" He knew I wasn't feeling great. "Sure, 'cause I'm so awesome." He wasn't going to argue, and while he made his quesadilla I made this salsa. I'm not kidding, it's that fast to put together. The only caveat is you need a food processor.

I came up with this recipe one desperate Sunday afternoon years ago when we were out of salsa and wouldn't survive the rest of the day without it. It uses canned, diced tomatoes which makes it really easy to pull together with a few other ingredients. The great thing about this salsa (besides that it uses canned tomatoes so you can make it all year long) is that you can vary the ingredient amounts to your tastes: if you like less onion, don't use the whole onion, if you like it more spicy, use 2 (or more) jalapenos, ditto for the cilantro--you get the idea.

5-minute Salsa
printable recipe

2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes, drained well, juice from one can reserved
1 small onion, cut into 1/2-in pieces
1-2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed, cut into 1/2-in pieces
1/3 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves and tender stems, very roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1-2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1. Put the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse 2-3 times (3 seconds each pulse), scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the cilantro and pulse 1-2 more times, or until the salsa is the consistency you want. Transfer the salsa to a bowl and stir in the salt and lime juice.

2. Store covered in the fridge for up to 4 days (though it never lasts that long at my house).

Makes about 2 1/2 cups salsa.