From the Garden: Fire-Roasted Green Tomato Salsa

Early fall with a garden full of green tomatoes? Make fire-roasted green tomato salsa.

My husband Dean and my dad Gpa love their gardens. Check out our garden plan for tips and ideas. Late in the garden season, I caught Gpa staring at our abundance of green tomatoes. As we are late in the harvest, with days getting shorter and colder, most of those greenies won’t ripen into red tomatoes. Never one to waste, Gpa was concocting a use for the green tomatoes, which are uniquely tasty (although nothing beats a vine-ripened red tomato).

The next day, a bunch of my green tomatoes were missing, as was Gpa, who was busy on his BBQ transforming the greenies into the fire-roasted base for a salsa. Fire-roasting gives the green tomatoes a lovely and tasty char while reducing their bitterness.

Blending roasted onion, garlic, lime, and peppers gives this salsa a little sweet, a little sour, a little tang, and just the right amount of heat.

Another plus of home-made salsa is that the spiciness can be adjusted to your personal taste. We use a combination of jalapeños, Anaheim, and Cubanello peppers for this salsa. For the mildest zest, omit the jalapeños and enjoy the flavor of the Anaheim and Cubanelle. Up the spiciness by adding 1/4 jalapeño, with seeds and veins removed. Incrementally add heat from there by leaving in the seeds and veins, and adding more jalapeño.

Enjoy this fire-roasted green tomato salsa on anything you’d normally top with salsa – chips, tacos, and enchiladas. It is also great as a sauce for baked fish, pork chops or grilled chicken. We’ve even added it to salad as an alternative to dressing.

@creativelyhome

🟢🍅 Early fall with a garden full of green tomatoes? Make fire-roasted green tomato salsa. For the recipe, search “tomato” at creativelyhome.com. #recipe #gardenrecipes #veggierecipes #grilling #veggies #salsarecipe #tomatorecipes #greentomatoes

♬ Lovely Day – Bill Withers

More recipes from the garden:

• Quick Pickled Jalapeños
• Rhubarb Zucchini Bread
• Grilled Stuffed Zucchini

Make a Batch and Freeze Half

This fire-roasted green tomato salsa recipe makes 1 quart of fresh salsa, which may be too much to consume. The beauty of this salsa is that it freezes really well. Keep out as much as you will eat in the next week or so and freeze the rest. Store in freezer safe bags or containers, remove excess air, and write the date on the container. When you’re ready for the next delicious serving, thaw, and enjoy. For another great Make and Freeze recipe, try our Cinnamon Granola.

Choosing Peppers for Fire-Roasted Green Tomato Salsa

We used a combination of Cubanelle, Anaheim, and jalapeño peppers in our fire-roasted green tomato salsa, as they add different heat and flavor components.

Cubanelle: Cubanelles are sweet, mild peppers (0-1,000 Scoville Heat Units) and can have a touch of spice. If Cubanelle peppers are not available, substitute a Poblano. Poblanos are a mild pepper (1,000-2,000 Scoville Heat Units) with a slightly smoky flavor.

Anaheim: Anaheim peppers are also mild (500-2,500 Scoville Heat Units), but hotter than a Cubanelle. Compared to a poblano, Anaheim has a broader heat range, so an Anaheim may be more or less mild than a poblano. Anaheim peppers have a slightly sweet flavor.

Jalapeño: Jalapeños are the spiciest of these three peppers (2,500-8,000 Scoville Heat Units). Jalapeños have a wide range of spiciness. If you’re a heat lover, go full in with the flesh, veins, and seeds. If you like a milder, but still spicy, flavor, remove the seeds and veins. When working with jalapeños, rub hands with olive oil before touching the jalapeños or wear gloves. Avoid touching your face or eyes when working with jalapeños and wash hands frequently with soap. Wash any kitchen equipment that came into contact with jalapeños with hot, soapy water to avoid transferring the heat to other foods.

How to Make Fire-Roasted Green Tomato Salsa

Fire-Roasted Green Tomato Salsa Ingredients

Makes 1 quart of fire-roasted green tomato salsa. If that quantity seems too much to consume, make the batch and freeze half. Store in freezer safe bags or containers, remove excess air, and write the date on the container.

• 2 pounds green tomatoes, cut large tomatoes in half
• 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
• 1 Anaheim pepper
• 1 Cubanelle pepper (substitute poblano if not available)
• 1-2 jalapeño peppers
• 1 lime, cut in half
• 1 bunch of cilantro, stems removed
• salt & pepper to taste

Fire-Roasted Green Tomato Salsa Recipe

Preheat BBQ (or oven) to 400°F

Grill

Place green tomatoes, onion, peppers, garlic, and lime on the grill, with any halved produce cut side down.

Lay garlic on top of pepper if too small to fit on grill.

Flip after 15 minutes. Placing halved produce cut side down will help retain liquid as they continue to cook after flipping. Remove produce if they split or begin to lose liquid. Cook for another 15 minutes or until nicely charred and softened.

For the oven-roasted version, add green tomatoes, onion, peppers, garlic, and lime to baking sheet covered with aluminum foil for easier clean up. After 15 minutes, flip all produce. Cook another 15 minutes, or until soft.

Prepare Fire-Roasted Goodness

After cool enough to handle, remove core from tomatoes, coarse chop the onion and remove stems from peppers. If using jalapeños, remove seeds and veins to reduce heat, if desired. Juice grilled lime.

Blend Fire-Roasted Green Tomato Salsa

To blender or food processor, add lime, tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, Anaheim/Cubanelle peppers, and jalapeño pepper (if unsure of desired heat, start by adding 1/4 of the jalapeño and see note below). Place tomatoes in blender first to free up liquid for easier blending. Process until just desired texture achieved. Blend longer for smoother salsa.

Note: If unsure how much jalapeño heat to add, start with 1/4 of the fire-roasted jalapeño and remove seeds and veins. Blend until just combined and taste with clean spoon. Add more jalapeño until desired heat reached.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Store salsa in refrigerator (or freeze in freezer safe container). Label container with date to monitor freshness.

Have you tried any recipes with green tomatoes?