Green Tomato Relish

It is officially Autumn here in good 'ol Provo, Utah which means that it's time to crank up the thermostat, break out the sweaters, and harvest all of the leftover green tomatoes left on my vine outside the kitchen. If you are like me and have a tomato vine full of semi-ripened tomatoes that you hate to see lost to the autumn frosts, OR if you'd just like an alternative to the preservative-laden and overly sugared condiments sold in the grocery store, this recipe is a life saver.
I took the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Farm Girl. You can click on that link to get the recipe, or you can keep on reading here. I changed mine slightly because I wanted a product that more closely resembled sweet pickle relish, since my 7 year old won't eat tuna fish sandwiches without it. If you want a more savory, salsa-like relish, stick with Farm Girl's original recipe. What I ended up with is a slightly spicy, flavorful, tangy relish with a mild texture. It was extremely easy and fun to make (the aforementioned 7 year old and I spent the afternoon chopping and mixing- one of our favorite family activities). I'm looking forward to cooking with it.


Farmgirl Susan's No Sugar Green Tomato Relish
Makes about 3 pints
Recipe may be doubled; increase cooking time by 10-15 minutes

2 lb. green tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 lb. white or yellow onions, chopped
3/4 lb. sweet red peppers, cored and chopped
1/2 lb. tart cooking apples, such as 'Granny Smith', cored and chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup 5% acidic organic raw apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon kosher or sea salt
4 jalapeno peppers, roasted, cored, seeded if desired, and finely chopped (optional)
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
2 Tablespoons honey

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Homemade Creamy Tomato Parmigiano Soup

Ingredients:
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 Tbs butter
1 small can crushed tomatoes in thick puree
1 small can chicken broth
Italian seasonings to taste (basil, oregano, etc)
1/3 to 1/2 cup low fat sour cream
1 1/2 Tbs low fat cream cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Saute garlic and butter in medium saucepan for about 1 minute.  Add tomatoes and chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, add seasonings, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until it reaches desired thickness.  Remove from heat and add sour cream and cheeses slowly while stirring constantly to prevent sour cream from curdling.  Put back on heat and stir until cheeses are melted and soup is thick.  Makes approximately 2 to 2.5 servings so definitely double it if you're feeding more than just you and the hubby.

For those of you who've eaten at Zupas in Provo UT, this soup is really similar to their delicious tomato basil soup (especially if you add some crushed red pepper to spice it up a bit and add enough parmesan to give it that wonderful texture).  They serve theirs with orzo pasta which is really yummy!!

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Fire Roasted Salsa

My husband's family are from Mexico, so I have gleaned some killer Mexican food recipes off of them over the past few years. One of my goals for my contributions to this blog is to share some of those traditional recipes in an easy to shop for/ easy to make format. A lot of traditional Mexican dishes are impossible to shop for if you don't speak Spanish or know your way around a Latin market, and they are definitely impossible to cook if you don't have a little abuelita showing you step by step how it's done.
This recipe is for salsa, pico de gallo style. Every time I make it people ask me for the recipe, so here you go! The greatest salsa recipe in the world.

Fire Roasted Salsa
6 large Roma tomatoes
1/2 medium white onion
1 average-sized bunch of cilantro, stems removed
3 Anaheim chiles
6 Serrano chiles (but only if you like it HOT! I leave these out altogether for mild salsa, and only throw in 2 or 3 for medium salsa)
1 tsp garlic powder
Juice of 2 limes
Salt to taste

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