Spicy Fire Roasted Salsa [Recipe Upgrade]

Fire Roasted Salsa

My grandpa’s salsa is famous in my family, but it’s almost impossible to get him to spill his secrets….until now. Over the holidays I was gorging on his yummy creation when I started asking for bits and pieces of the recipe. I doubt I got it down 100% but I think I did a pretty good job re-creating the family favorite.

A few years ago I posted my salsa recipe and it hasn’t changed much over the years. Once I made my grandfather’s salsa I was hooked. The addition of the tomato sauce and dried oregano took it to the next level.

Ingredients

  • 28oz can fire roasted tomatoes
  • 4oz tomato sauce
  • 1/2 yellow onion (1/2 a cup), cut in large chunks
  • small handful of cilantro (around 1/2 a cup)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 cup red bell pepper, cut in large pieces
  • 2 serrano peppers, remove the seeds for a milder salsa, chopped
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Fire Roasted Salsa

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender.

Blend until well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning.

I like it to have a little bit of texture, not too blended. If you mix it in a food processor use the chop/pulse setting to get a good chunky salsa.

Bon Appetit!

Quick & Easy Snacking – American Idol Recap

And just like that…it’s come and gone, another year of American Idol. Around this time last year I was anxiously awaiting the audition announcement so I could take my 5th and final stab at Idol glory! Well, needless to say I didn’t make it to the big stage, but I did get an awesome opportunity to share my love of food with Lyndsey Parker and her Yahoo! blog, Reality Rocks.

This is definitely old news by now, but Mr. Country himself, Scotty McCreery, took home the 10th season Idol crown. I’m not the biggest fan of country music, but Scotty showed a poise and charm that is rarely seen in kids his age. So I think his win was a deserving one for sure.

Scotty was actually in my line in Hollywood and I remember being completely taken back by his rich, mature voice and instant command of the stage. Country fan or not, you can’t deny that he grew from week to week and that’s what I like to see most in an Idol competitor. So congrats Scotty McCreery, you deserved it!

Side note: did anyone else see the love fest happening between Scotty and Lauren? Between the handing holding, waist grabbing, “I love you baby”, and multiple pecks on the mouth and cheeks…it’s pretty hard to deny there’s something there. Sooo cute! 🙂

If you didn’t get a chance to check out all of my recipes over the last few months then here you are, a list of everything I was serving up for American Idol Season 10!

Which recipe was your favorite? Which one was your least favorite?

Happy Eating!

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Quick & Easy Snacking – American Idol Finale Recipe 3

Tonight is the big night and I’m serving up some delicious treats for your Idol viewing party.

All season long I’ve had the pleasure of posting my recipes on Reality Rocks, by the fabulous, Lyndsey Parker. Today I’m proud to announce my finale recipes were featured on Yahoo! Music’s home page! So take a look at recipe number three, Flautas with Adobo Chile Crema! Give these recipes a try, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Who do you think will take home the Idol crown tonight?

Happy Eating!

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Quick & Easy Snacking – American Idol Finale Recipe 2

Tonight is the big night and I’m serving up some delicious treats for your Idol viewing party.

All season long I’ve had the pleasure of posting my recipes on Reality Rocks, by the fabulous, Lyndsey Parker. Today I’m proud to announce my finale recipes were featured on Yahoo! Music’s home page!  So take a look at recipe number two, Hatch Chile Boats with Avocado Puree! I’ll be posting the last recipe soon so check back!

Happy Eating!

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Quick & Easy Snacking – American Idol Finale Recipe 1

Tonight is the big night and I’m serving up some delicious treats for your Idol viewing party.

All season long I’ve had the pleasure of posting my recipes on Reality Rocks, by the hip rocker herself, Lyndsey Parker. Today I’m proud to announce my finale recipes were featured on Yahoo! Music’s home page!  So take a look at recipe number one, Southwest Chicken Pinwheels! I’ll be posting the other two recipes shortly so check back!

Happy Eating!

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Quick & Easy Snacking – American Idol Top 3

It’s finally here, the finale of American Idol. This week we said goodbye to our last Idol hopeful before the big finale week. Unfortunately, that person was Haley Reinhart. I’m a huge Haley fan and was totally bummed she didn’t make it to the big show. So, for the first time in Idol history, we will be seeing an all country finale. Lauren and Scotty are very talented and will have huge careers, but a Scotty and Haley finale would have totally been it for me. We will see.

Every week this Idol season I’ve had the pleasure of posting my culinary creations on Lyndsey Parker’s Yahoo! blog, Reality Rocks. Last week I was serving up Cajun Shrimp Cakes and Crawfish Spinach Dip for Leiber and Stoller week.

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Quick & Easy Snacking – American Idol Top 4

With two weeks left in the competition it’s pretty much impossible to not disappoint some Idol fans with the weekly eliminations. This week the rocker that wanted to introduce American to metal couldn’t get past the country charm and sexy prowess of the remaining top 3 contestants.

At this point in the competition I was really pleased with the top 4 and honestly, completely lost at who will take the Idol crown. I’m not worried about James Durbin’s elimination this week. If his Idol following stands by him as strongly as they’ve protested his departure…he’ll have a very successful music career.

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Quick & Easy Snacking – American Idol Top 5

We’re finally down to the top 4 on American Idol and I must say, I’m pretty pleased with the remaining contestants. Last week’s elimination of gospel powerhouse Jacob Lusk didn’t come as too big of a surprise. He definitely brought power every week, but his lack of vocal control and iffy song choice lost it for me towards the end. Not to mention that questionable plaid number he was flaunting during Carole King week. Phew…lets move on.

Every week this Idol season I’ve had the pleasure of posting my own recipes on Yahoo’s Reality Rocks blog by the fabulous Lyndsey Parker. So for last week’s “Now and Then” theme I was serving up my take on a 1960’s home cooked classic, and something a bit more 2011.

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Quick & Easy Snacking – American Idol Top 6

Out of 125,000 hopefuls American Idol has whittled it down to 5 contestants. With the season finale quickly approaching I can honestly say I have no idea who’s going to take the Season 10 Idol crown. Unfortunately, it will not be Casey Abrams. Casey has been one of my favorite contestants this entire season. Not only is he, hands down, the most talented musician out of the whole bunch, but he always kept a level of surprise and excitement each and every week. He will definitely be missed.

The theme last week was songs from the queen of folk-rock herself, Ms. Carole King. Carole has written songs for just about every genre and the most talented musicians over the last 5 decades. Keeping with the theme of the week I decided to recreate some popular dishes from the Hard Rock Cafe menu in honor of Ms. King’s song of the same name.

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Quick & Easy Snacking – American Idol Top 7

Another week gone and another Idol sent home during last week’s top 7 showcase on American Idol. The sultry toned, yet bottom three plagued, Stefano Langone saw his Idol run come to an end. Stefano had one of his strongest performances yet with Ne-Yo’s “Closer”, but it still wasn’t strong enough for the American voters to secure him a spot in the top 6.

The Idols performed songs of the 21st century, so sticking with the health contentious theme of the last decade, I was cooking up some quick and healthy snacks for your Idol viewing pleasure.

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