We had a bbq with the neighbors over the weekend and I wanted to serve an appetizer. Guacamole immediately came to mind – it’s one of those foods that I know I can’t mess up. Still, as tasty as chips and guacamole can be, the whole thing just seemed incomplete without a bit of salsa.

I’ve never had much luck with salsa. It seems like it should be easy enough – tomato, lime, cilantro, onion. But someone I never get the proportions quite right. But still, salsa was calling my name. I even had a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and Hatch chopped tomatillos in my cupboard, recent imports from the USA. So I gave it a go and – what a relief – the salsa was delicious! Spicy, smokey and a little bit sweet. My neighbors said I should “bottle it” which made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. I can’t wait to use the leftovers with some tofu breakfast tacos!

I worked off of this recipe on recipezaar, substituting canned tomatoes for fresh and adding one fresh tomato at the end (I won’t do this next time – but it seemed necessary because the salsa was WAY too hot). The roasted tomatoes and garlic really make this salsa shine, plus the smokiness of the chipotles of course. I want to try this next time with fresh tomatoes, so I can get a bit of charred skin in there.

Word of advice: start with one chipotle chile then work your way up until the desired level of heat is achieved.