Roasted Hatch Green Chile Tomato Salsa

              Living in the South ie. North Texas has been a major adjustment for this Alaska grown girl...the heat, lack of trees, no mountains, water quality, fresh seafood is an arm and a leg if you can even find it .... my list could go on and on! That all being said though, the South is starting to grow on me... I love the friendliness of the people, the winters are much nicer than home and I love love the availability of fresh produce all the time!

In college I road tripped to New Mexico with some friends to visit their families and was introduced to Hatch green chiles. (I can't believe I lived so long without them now!) It was love at first bite...mmmmmm fresh roasted green chiles are seriously divine! I can't think of a way that I've had them that I haven't liked!

This past weekend one of the grocery stores in town had a "mini mini" hatch green chile fest...really they just had a big roaster that they were roasting green chiles in that were available for purchase and some samples of different items with green chiles in them inside the store. Regardless...they had FRESHLY roasted Hatch green chiles!! Yay!! I've roasted my own many a times and they are work!! To get them straight from the roaster is AWESOME!! You still have to clean them and chop them but to me that is not a problem!! Hubby and I bought a whole box...half hot and half mild as the last ones I bought were spicy spicy we figured if they were we could mix the two.

We cleaned them, seeded them & chopped them...into freezer bags they went (minus the ones we had for dinner in our steak tacos). I left two bags out of the freezer to use right away... one bag I turned into the below salsa recipe and the other I've been using in turkey burgers & eggs!! So many uses for green chiles...if you've never tried them give this and other green chile recipes a go! You won't be disappointed!!

Roasted Hatch Green Chile Tomato Salsa
8-10 Roasted, Cleaned and Diced Hatch Green Chiles (I used a mixture of hot & mild)

(or substitute 2 cans of diced green chiles)

28 oz diced tomatoes

2 tsp garlic powder

2-4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 med. sized onion, diced

2 tsp salt (or to taste)

2 Tbsp lime juice

 

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and then using a blender/food processor/immersion blender blend to desired consistency.

*If possible make the day before you are wanting to serve it. Tastes fabulous right away but even better after the ingredients have had an opportunity to meld together!!

Roasting Vegetables

One of my favorite things to do with vegetables is to roast them. I don't know what it is but the simple act of slicing or cubing vegetables into similar shapes/sizes, and then tossing them with olive oil, kosher salt and some pepper and tossing them on a pan and into a hot oven just makes me smile. Probably because I know how delicious they taste when they come out of the oven 20-40 minutes later!! They are fabulous on their own, used as toppings or stuffed inside a dish of your choosing. Mmmmm! So simple, yet so delicious! With all the vegetables readily available to us at this time of year it would be a shame not to try roasting a few of them! Give it a try... you won't be disappointed!!

Basic Roasted Vegetable Recipe

1. Vegetables of your choosing
2. Salt - I always use Kosher as I think it spreads itself wonderfully over the vegetables
3. Additional Seasonings of your choosing - I love using dried garlic, onions, thyme, basil, rosemary....etc. (if using fresh I recommend tossing the fresh finely chopped herbs in with your vegetables after they have been roasted)

Directions

* Preheat your oven - I like to roast mine at 400-425F (you can slow roast at much lower temps - I roast my tomatoes with  fresh garlic and basil at 350F but it takes much longer)
* Chop your vegetables to similar sizes - this will just help them roast more evenly
* The denser the vegetable the longer it will take to roast; i.e. potatoes - they will take much longer to roast than a tomato, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.
* Once chopped put your veggies into a large bowl and drizzle them with olive oil or the oil of your choosing. A tablespoon or two is plenty. Then toss them to coat evenly.
* Salt them - Start with a small amount - at most for a large bowl of veggies 1Tbsp. You can always add more but you cannot take it away :)
* Add additional dried seasonings; I usually use around 2 tsp of both minced & dried garlic and onion. If I'm going to use fresh herbs I always toss them with the veggies after they are cooked.
* Make sure you leave space between your veggies - they will roast and not steam cook this way.
* Use the top third of your oven. If roasting two pans of vegetables switch/rotate them when you stir them.
* Roast your veggies until they are both golden on the outside and soft/creamy on the inside. Some veggies will take 30 minutes while others may take closer to an hour. Good rule of thumb always check /toss/stir your veggies about 15 minutes into roasting them and then time them accordingly afterwards as to how done they already are. Once you've roasted specific veggies once or twice you will have a much better idea as to how long they will take!
* Taste your veggies when they come out - don't burn yourself though! Sprinkle a bit more salt if you think it needs it and or toss with fresh herbs and serve!