Those of us that grew up in the southwest know. We get to eat great Mexican food whenever we want. There is no planning a trip here for mouthwatering carne asada or perfectly crafted enchiladas. When you’re in the area, I encourage you to check out local Mexican food restaurants!
Today I’m sharing two very different kinds of salsa that are great in their own way.
First up is a salsa we affectionately call Con Queso which means “with cheese.” It’s super easy using two ingredients and the microwave. You’ll find it in our RV on just about every trip.
On the rare occasion of salsa left over, we love it poured over chicken breasts or in an egg burrito.
Cut up a brick of Velveeta Cheese and place in medium sized microwave safe bowl.
Add one can of Rotel, juice included and stir.
Microwave on high for 1 minute, stir. Repeat until cheese is melted. Eat!
Con Queso
- 1 brick Velveeta
- 1 can Ro*Tel
- Cut Velveeta into cubes and place in a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Add Rotel, juice included and stir.
- Microwave on high in one-minute increments, stirring each time until cheese is melted and smooth.
- Serve immediately with warm tortilla chips.
Next up is a restaurant style salsa. As you know, salsa is an important part to any Mexican food meal. It’s the first thing placed on the table in just about every single Mexican food restaurant. When we can’t get to a good restaurant, we have to resort to making our own. Our dear friend Cathie makes amazing restaurant style salsa, even gives our son Kevin his own jar every year for his birthday. We ration it out, making sure everyone gets an equal amount. Now that it’s just the two of us in the house, we happily chow down on 1/2 a jar each!
While her recipe is top secret, I did find one that’s pretty close to share with you. Yeah!
This recipe uses a food processor. A blender will probably work but the food processor really does a great job.
I start by rinsing the cilantro really well, pat it dry with a paper towel then let it sit and finish drying while I get the rest ready. My own quirk I know but Mark isn’t a cilantro guy so I need to make sure it is totally and completely pureed so he can’t see big pieces of it.
Next, I seed the jalapenos and cut them in big chunks. I love them but my lungs do not while I’m cutting them. I used three this time because they were small.
Now that the hard part is done, let’s make salsa!
Cut the white bulb off the bottom and toss it in the food processor. Then add the jalapenos and garlic. We like a lot of garlic so I use a tablespoon but you can use as much or as little as you like.
Pulse in the food processor until it’s very finely chopped, think mushy. You might need to scrape down the sides a time or two during this process.
Add the tomato cans, juice included along with the salt, cumin and lime juice. Pulse until blended.
Store any leftovers in a sealed container. We like it as a salad dressing for taco salad. I use it on top of chicken breasts in the crock pot when I need shredded chicken. You can freeze it, too, but it will be watery when defrosted.
Easy Restaurant Salsa
- 6 green onions, white ends only
- 1-2 jalapenos
- 1 handful cilantro
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 14.5-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 14.5-ounce can whole tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- Juice from one lime
- Rinse cilantro and pat dry. Seed and rough cut the jalapenos.
- Place onions, jalapenos, garlic and cilantro in food processor. Pulse until very finely chopped. May look like mush.
- Add both cans of tomatoes, juice included. Add salt, cumin and lime juice. Pulse until liquid.
- Refrigerate for a couple hours for flavors to blend. Serve with warm tortilla chips.