salsa Archives - The Midnight Baker

Simple Tomato Salsa

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 22 Oct 2022 23:00:07 +0000

Here’s a simple tomato salsa for folks not into heat.

Simple Tomato Salsa–No Heat

Do you have anyone on your list that either can’t eat anything hot or simply doesn’t like it? Then this simple tomato salsa is for those folks.

Really this is simply a dressed-up tomato salad. It may be basic, but it’s very good. This salsa pairs very well with my royal fish cakes. In fact it was featured in Mary Berry’s original recipe for those fish cakes. Since those fish cakes are full of flavor, the sauce that accompanies them should not overshadow their flavor; it should complement it.

End Of Harvest

This is an excellent recipe if you had a bountiful harvest of home-grown tomatoes. It’s a great way to use some of them up.

But if you don’t have home-grown tomatoes, be sure to choose a supermarket variety that has great taste. I usually choose the ones that come with the vine because they are consistently high quality. Cherry and grape tomatoes work well to as they are very flavorful. Avoid those ones that are cellophane wrapped as they have very little flavor which will spoil this salsa.In a pinch, Roma tomatoes may be used. They have more meat than water.

Other Ingredients

As for the remaining ingredients, this salsa will taste better with top-notch ingredients.

A nice fruity olive oil is perfect. Be sure to use either virgin or extra-virgin oil since those oils have a distinctive flavor that will enhance everything else.

White wine vinegar is recommended. You can either use the generic white wine vinegar or get fancy with champagne vinegar.

The Recipe

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Simple Tomato Salsa

Not to be confused with Mexican-style salsa, this is a very simple side dish that’s good with burgers or fish

Prep Time10

Cook Time0

Course: Salad, Sauce

Cuisine: American

Keyword: mild tomato salsa, no-heat salsa, tomato salad

Servings: 6

Calories: 113kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

6 firm tomatoes deseeded, diced
1 small red onion finely chopped
1 tbs white wine vinegar
4 tbs olive oil
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Season with salt, pepper to taste.

Nutrition

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Mango Salsa

Judith Hannemann — Thu, 18 May 2017 23:00:10 +0000

Dress up chicken or fish with this versatile mango salsa. It makes a great dip too!

Mango Salsa Is A Versatile Condiment

If you are looking to dress up chicken or fish, look no further than this tangy mango salsa!

It’s the perfect condiment for chicken breast, especially if it’s mildly flavored by herbs or a marinade. It adds just that wonderful touch of sweet and savory.

As for fish, I can think of nothing better than a nice thick piece of butter-broiled cod or swordfish with this served on top.

Get To Know Mangoes

Believe it or not, this was the first time I used (and possibly ate) mangoes.

I know a lot of people are crazy about them, and I always wanted to try this salsa any time I saw it. Therefore, it was time I learned how to tell if they were ripe and how to cut them. Here’s what I learned:

The skin color has nothing to do with ripeness. If the fruit “gives” meaning it yields when you press it, then it’s ripe. You can also sniff the stem–if it smells fruity, it’s ripe.
Mangoes have a weird seed. It runs the length of the fruit and it’s rectangular. They also have sides–a thin side and a broad side (known as cheeks). The usable portion is the cheeks.
There’s several ways to cut them. Here’s a link for the way I prefer to cut a mango. There’s other great information on that site for other mango neophytes.

Watch The Video

The Recipe

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Mango Salsa

Dress up chicken or fish with this versatile mango salsa. It makes a great dip too!

Prep Time10

Total Time10

Course: Dips/Sauces/Dressings

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: appetizers, mango, mango salsa, salsa recipe

Servings: 3 cups

Calories: 148kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

3 ripe mangoes diced
1 small red onion diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper diced
2 tbsp coarsely chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeño seeded, deveined and diced
Salt & pepper to taste.

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl.
Cover and refrigerate overnight as it tastes better the next day.

Nutrition

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Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Judith Hannemann — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

These quinoa stuffed peppers are packed with delicious salsa flavor. It’s a great meatless vegetarian meal easily made vegan with substitutions.

I fell in love with these the first time I saw them. My friend Lori made them and posted a pic on her Facebook wall. I immediately started drooling because they looked so good.

Salsa Adds YUM

She’d said she got the recipe off the box of quinoa, but she’d thrown out the box and couldn’t remember the brand. I so badly wanted this recipe! A few months later, she remembered the brand and sent me the recipe from their website. Unfortunately, the brand name was no part of the link she sent me nor was it stated in the recipe. All I know is it was a blue box, so she said. I buy my quinoa in bulk so I am not familiar with brands!! Anyway, credit here goes to some brand of quinoa in a blue box

A Red One

Now A Green One

I baked these in a conventional oven, but Lori (long story) baked them in the Nesco oven she borrowed from me, and I think they’d come out even juicier if you did them in a Nesco. However, they are delicious ANY way you make them.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

The dish this is baked in is the pie plate from the Temp-Tations Specialty Baking Set. The set includes this dish, a 6-cup muffin pan and a standard loaf pan. The item is retired, but some stock is still available on
Temp-tations.com

Temp-Tations Old World Specialty Baking set

Recipe as it’s stated is fine for vegetarians who eat dairy, but you can turn this vegan by replacing the butter with olive oil and omitting the cheese (or finding a vegan cheese substitute), but even though I am a cheese fanatic, these peppers do not need cheese to be great. In fact, next time I may omit it entirely—and I LOVE cheese. That’s how good these are. You won’t miss meat here. These are wonderful.

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Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

These quinoa stuffed peppers are packed with delicious salsa flavor. It’s a great meatless vegetarian meal easily made vegan with substitutions.

Prep Time30

Cook Time40

Total Time1 10

Course: Everyday Meals, vegetarian dishes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: quinoa, stuffed peppers

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 475kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa uncooked
2 cups water divided
4 large or 6 medium sweet bell peppers
1 medium onion diced
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 28 oz diced tomatoes (reserve juice)
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 12 oz salsa
2 tbsp dry sherry
10 oz mozzarella shredded (reserve a bit for the top)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. You will need either a 13x9 or 11x7-inch baking pan (or any that will fit the peppers and the remaining quinoa mixture)
Cook quinoa according to package directions using 1 cup uncooked quinoa in 1 1/2 cups water. Quinoa cooks like rice. I used my rice cooker for this.
Cut off and reserve the tops of the bell peppers. Hollow them out then steam both the tops and the peppers in the remaining 1/2 cup of water until slightly soft but not limp; drain and cool slightly.
In a large skillet or saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and onion and saute until tender.
Drain the can of diced tomatoes, but reserve the juice. Add the drained tomatoes, garlic and the salsa to the onion/mushroom mixture. Stir well and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Add the sherry and stir well. Fold in the cooked quinoa and the mozzarella cheese. Stuff peppers with the quinoa mixture--you will use about half of the mixture to stuff the peppers. Place stuffed peppers upright in a baking dish and sprinkle tops of each pepper with reserved cheese.
Stir the reserved juice from the can of tomatoes into the remaining half of the quinoa mixture and pour around peppers in the baking pan.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Top with reserved pepper tops and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.
Serves 4-6 depending on size of the peppers.

Nutrition

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Salsa-Licious Mac & Cheese: Meatless Mondays

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Salsa-Licious Mac & Cheese

So easy and so tasty. A different mac & cheese. Can be made totally meatless and a giveaway too!

I have been thinking about doing something like this literally for years.

My friend Kevin said his mom *always* added a bit of salsa to her mac & cheese and I thought heck, that’s a great idea because the tomato/peppers combo would really kick this up.

I thought I’d dust off this idea when Revol contacted me to do something for one of their “postcards,” which are recipe cards that are displayed with the product in stores.

As Revol is international, I tweaked Kevin’s mom’s idea a bit to use ingredients that would be available world-wide and/or give a viable substitution for ones not available globally (i.e. Velveeta).

And if you’re wondering why something with ground beef is the “Meatless Monday” post–the meat can be easily eliminated here with absolutely no loss of great flavor!

I did this in my 1.8 qt Belle Cuisine, which is my most-used Revol baker. However, this recipe can be doubled or tripled and made in a larger pan. If you want to make this in a larger 13 x 9 pan, double the ingredients.

So here’s the giveaway part–for Easy Greasy. This little kitchen item is designed to drain grease from whatever you cook. There’s also a handy cover for the grease collector so you can store it and empty it when full.

I found it did the job well. Basically its a colander/can re-design that all fits together nicely. Made totally in the USA and designed by and marketed by an every-day Mom!

What I didn’t care for was that even when it was washed, it still smelled like the beef fat I drained. I’m a TERRIBLE anti-grease-a-holic and I have a keen and some say, OVER KEEN sense of smell. That bothered me. A pet peeve. It may not bother others at all.

Here it is in action:

EasyGreasy

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Salsa-Licious Mac and Cheese:

Luscious, creamy mac and cheese kicked up with ground beef and salsa!

Prep Time25

Cook Time20

Total Time45

Course: beef

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: ground beef recipe, mac and beef, mac and cheese

Servings: 3 -4

Calories: 612kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup green bell pepper diced
1/2 cup chopped onion
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes with juice OR 3 fresh tomatoes, diced
1 clove garlic minced
8 oz lean ground beef optional for meatless
2 cups cooked elbow macaroni
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup Velveeta cubed
1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
sliced green onions for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Brown ground beef, onion and pepper together in a large saute pan or deep skillet.
Add the tomatoes and Velveeta. Cook over low heat until cheese is melted.
Stir in cooked elbows.
Transfer to a 11 x 7 - inch baking dish. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbling.
Garnish with green onion if desired.
Serves 2-3
NOTE: If you cannot get Velveeta (outside US/Canada) then substitute 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup shredded cheddar)

Nutrition

Salsa-Licious Mac & Cheese

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