Canned Tomato Salsa

Sometimes, during the summer, our tomato plants decide to have a party on the vine, so to speak, and produce way more tomatoes than we can possibly eat, even if we are eating them every day, sliced, salted, and served with a little balsamic or mayo.
What do you do with your excess garden tomatoes?
Last week my dad made his favorite tomato juice. This week we made and canned some simple tomato and green chile salsa, which I expect will be great to pull out in the middle of winter and munch with some tortilla chips (if the jars last that long, we go through salsa pretty quickly around here.)


Note:that it is the vinegar in the salsa ingredients that make this salsa safe for canning using a water bath canning method. Tomatoes are already slightly acidic, and only need a little more acid to be safely canned using this method. But the chiles are not acidic, so they need more vinegar.

Canned Tomato Salsa Recipe

 

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Yield: Makes about 5 pints

Before starting, prepare your workspace so that it is clean and uncluttered. If you don't want to roast your own green chiles, you can sub with about two 7-ounce cans of green chiles, chopped.
This recipe uses specific amounts of ingredients, balancing the non-acidic ingredients with the amount of added acid needed to make the recipe safe. Do not increase the amount of green chiles beyond 1 1/2 cups, or decrease the amount of tomatoes less than 7 cups.

Ingredients:

• 5 lbs of tomatoes
• 1 lb large Anaheim green chiles (5-6 chiles)
• 3 jalapeno chilies, seeded and stems removed, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh chopped cilantro (including stems)
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 to 2 Tbsp sugar or more (to taste, depending on how sweet your tomatoes are)

Canning equipment needed:

• 5 to 6 pint-sized canning jars, with rings and new lids
• A very large stockpot or canning pot (16-qt)
• A flat steamer rack on which to place the filled jar for the water bath canning, so that they don't touch the bottom of the pan and crack from excess heat

Canning equipment recommended:

• Canning tongs to make it easy to lift the jars in and out of boiling water
• Rubber or latex coated gardening gloves to make it easier on your hands for handling hot jars

Read More: Canned Tomato Salsa

Chipotle Salsa Baked Chicken

In this recipe we are making a simple salsa with fire roasted tomatoes, onions, lime juice, and chipotles packed in adobo, coating chicken breasts with the sauce, topping them with melty jack cheese, and baking them in the oven in a casserole dish. So easy! And so versatile.

First, chiles in adobo last a long time in the fridge, many months once you’ve opened the can, so you don’t have to stress about using them up right away. Second, this dish has lots of sauce, which tastes great with rice, pasta, tortillas, even chips. Third, it makes great leftovers.
This chicken bake is very similar to my salsa verde baked chicken, but with a smokey chipotle salsa instead. It’s a little on the acidic side with the lime juice and adobo, and tastes great with avocados to cut the acid and the heat.
While I usually serve it with rice, it’s also surprisingly good with penne pasta. In fact I could see making this again as a pasta casserole, just chop up the chicken to bite sized pieces, toss with cooked pasta and the salsa, sprinkle with cheese and bake until the chicken is cooked through.

Chipotle Salsa Baked Chicken Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Yield: Serves 6

This casserole produces a lot of sauce! Use it to spoon over rice or pasta, or for dipping tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

• 1 15-ounce can fire roasted tomatoes (or canned whole or crushed tomatoes if fire roasted are not available)
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup, packed, chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 chipotle chili peppers in adobo, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce (less or more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thighs), trimmed of excess fat, cut into 3-inch wide pieces
• 4 ounces grated or sliced Monterey jack cheese

Serve with or over

• Avocados
• More chopped cilantro
• Sour cream
• Corn or flour tortillas
• Rice
• Pasta

Read More: Chipotle Salsa Baked Chicken