Salsa Time!

Salsa time is... all the time!

I haven't bought store bought salsa in years.  When you have a food processor, why would you?

Here's my secret to awesome salsa every time:

In a food processor add...

A chunk of red onion (about 1/3 of a medium one)
1/3 of a bunch of cilantro

Process until chopped. Add..

4-5 good quality tomatoes (stay away from beef steak and roma.  I always use "on the vine")
Chop them into quarters.

1/2 of a lemon, squeezed and zested
1/2 of a lime, squeezed
salt to taste
any peppers (I like banana but if you like spicy, go with the other kind)
I also add in a little bit of a salsa mix.  You generally find these next to the guacamole mix packets somewhere near the tomatoes in the fresh food section.

Process until the desired consistency and add more salt to taste.  Salt will really make or break your salsa.  You need to add enough to balance out the acid from the lemon and lime.

P.S.  We had burritos for dinner last night.  If anyone wants that recipe, let me know.

Pizza Pizza!

We love making pizza at home.  With the right ingredients, it turns out 1000 times better than delivery.
We do use a pizza stone and paddle.  It just makes the crust that much better.  I highly recommend getting one.  Just place it in the oven while it is preheating so it's nice and hot when you put your pizza on it.

Here's the tried and true method:

Crust:

2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water

Mix and let bubble for 5 min.  Then add:

1 tsp salt
2 1/2 + cups flour
2 tbsp olive oil

Mix in a kitchenaid for about 7 min until the dough is in a ball not sticking to the bowl.
This recipe usually yields us 3 personal pizzas.  One for each, and one for lunch for my husband at work.

Favorite toppings (in this order)"
Trader Joe's pizza sauce (it's the best, don't buy anything else)
Spinach
Red Onion
Bell pepper
Thinly sliced tomato
Salt and pepper slightly on veggies
Prosciutto (also from Trader Joe's)
Fresh basil ($2.99 for a huge package at Trader Joe's)
Fresh mozzarella
Pizza mix cheese (just to top off any spots without mozzarella)

Bake on preheated stone at 450* for 15 minutes or until the middle cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

If you do the math, I probably spend about $15-20 on the ingredients and I usually make the dough twice for a total of 6 pizzas - $3 per pizza? You can't get that with delivery.

Enjoy!