Roasted Pepper Salsa

2 Anaheim peppers
2  Jalapeno peppers
1 Serrano pepper
2-4 cloves of garlic
2 Tomatillos
3 green onions chopped small (mostly the white part just a bit of the green)
salt
pepper
Diced tomatoes fresh or canned to equal about 3 cups with liquid (that is how I do it,  you can discard liquid if you prefer)
1-2 Tbsp Lime juice
Cilantro (I use a good handful roughly chopped)


Roast the peppers, tomatillos and garlic cloves in the oven turning the peppers as needed to get a nice roast on each side. You should see black and brown spots on the skin which you will peel later. 400 for 10 min per side to start, you can roast longer if needed.

When they are out of the oven pop the peppers in a brown bag and seal it up and let them sit till cooled then peel them (they should peel fairly easily by doing this) it's OK if some of the skin does not come off, I promise!

now, put on some food gloves and peel then dice the peppers small. I remove most of the seeds! If you like it hot and spicy feel free to leave some in....
DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE OR ANYTHING ELSE WITH PEPPER JUICE ON YOUR HANDS OR GLOVES.  That's in Caps to stress how important it is to NOT get pepper juice in your eyes or on your lips etc. It will hurt...this I can promise!

Mince up the garlic and toss in a medium bowl. (the roasted garlic will be very soft and yummy)
Add the finely diced peppers (you can also puree in a blender)
add the tomatoes and lime juice
add the green onions
season with salt and pepper
toss in the chopped cilantro
It always seemed to us that the salsa got spicier the longer it sat...

I used to puree the garlic,peppers and half the tomatoes then add the rest of the tomatoes but it turned out very green in color and we preferred the red. If you want to do a lot less mincing/chopping etc. you can do this it still tastes great!

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

I have added in the past some grated zucchini, Poblano Peppers and a few other things I can't remember now, but all worked fine!

The Perfect Crostini

This can be the perfect start to any number of appetizer dishes! And it's a cinch to make a day or two ahead of time!

Take a baguette or two and slice into 3/8 inch slices.

Brush each side with a little olive oil (I have fallen in love with the silicone brushes, you need one-really!)

Toast in a 400 oven for 5 min or until lightly browned, remove from oven and flip each slice of bread then return to oven to bake for another 5 min. (You know your oven better than I do so, adjust accordingly) You want each bread slice to be a medium brown, not too dark, not too light.

Let them sit for a few min till they are not too hot to handle, they should be hard to the touch but inside hopefully they will be soft.

Get a nice size clove of garlic and peel and chop the hard end off. Rub the garlic over one or both sides of the Crostini. The smell of the olive oil and garlic should have your family running into the kitchen at this point to steal one or two pieces when you are not looking... so beware!

You may need more garlic....

When these little gems are completely cooled you can store them in tupperware or zip-lock bags!

These have a variety of uses:

Bruchetta

Float in soup

cut up and use as crouton on salad

eat plain...

add some goat cheese and spices

Serve with any other cheese spread

Black Bean Salsa

We love this as a dip for chips OR for a lettuce wrap alone or with Chicken or taco beef.

1 can (10-12 oz) Corn
1 each small red, yellow, green, orange, pepper diced small or half each large peppers
1/2 Cup diced red onion or 3 green onions sliced small
2 diced avocados (dice then add 1/4 C. lemon or lime juice to bowl adds great flavor and keeps avocado green)
1 can Black beans rinsed

1 can white beans rinsed

1 regular zuccini diced

1/4 C. chopped fresh Cilantro

dressing:
1/4 C. Olive Oil
1/4 C. rice vinegar
1/2 C. Pine Nuts
4 cloves of Garlic Minced

Salt and Pepper to taste
Serve with good tortilla chips!

I do not add the Avocado's if its going to sit for a while.
This recipe can be altered to the tastes your family enjoys.

Artichoke Bruchetta and Tomato Bruchetta

Artichoke Bruchetta:
One or two 6 ounce Jar Marinated Artichoke hearts chopped (you can use 2 and not have as many leaves)
1/2 Cup. Grated Romano Cheese or Parmesan or a mix!
1/4 Cup. Finely chopped red onion-trust me red onion is the only one for this recipe!
5 to 6 Tbsp Mayo (Start small and add if needed)
One long thin Baguette sliced thin and toasted lightly on each side.

Place chopped hearts, cheese and onion in a bowl. Mix in enough mayo to make a thick spread.
Top bread rounds with a bit of the spread and broil in oven till bubbly and just barely turning brown on top (about 2 min WATCH CAREFULLY!)

Tomato Bruchetta:
Mix in med bowl:
6 diced tomatoes (ones with flavor if you can find them)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh Basil
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp good Olive Oil
2 tsp. balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

One long thin Baguette sliced thin, lightly brushed with olive oil on each side then toasted on each side and rubbed with a garlic clove. (this can be done a day or two ahead of time and stored in a ziplock!)

Spoon a portion of the mixture on each round and broil in oven a couple of min till cheese is looking cooked. Watch Carefully!!
You can add more cheese to the top of each before broiling also if you would like that-believe me...you do like that!