Hi, all! Hope you’re absolutely loving the warm weather we’ve been getting this weekend! I’ve been spending as much time as I possibly can outside biking, hiking, playing tennis, playing pickleball, reading… pretty much everything I can think of to do outside! Maybe you’ve been spending your time cleaning out your garden and pulling up the last of the tomato and pepper plants- as was the case for me a couple weekends ago. If you’re finding yourself with lots of unripe green tomatoes and a few straggling jalapenos, I’ve got the recipe for you! This salsa verde recipe comes from a canning book that my mom let me borrow a few weeks ago, and it is so good- it uses up those green tomatoes rather than using the traditional tomatillos, and is zingy, acidic, bright, and really flavorful. Here are the ingredients:

• 7 cups peeled, cored, chopped green tomatoes (see tip below for easier chopping)
• 3-6 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (you can use more peppers if you have them, just take the seeds and ribs out if you need to tamp down the spice level)
• 2 cups finely chopped red onion
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Ok, so first things first: how to easily peel and chop what seems like a gazillion green tomatoes. Take a potato peeler or a Y-peeler and peel all around the tomatoes. Using a potato peeler or a Y-peeler instead of a knife will make it go quicker and will also probably save you from wasting a good amount of each tomato. Then, instead of taking a corer to the tomato, just cut chunks off from around the core.

Chop those chunks into pea-sized pieces, and keep working until you have 7 cups of chopped green tomatoes. It will take a little time, but it’s totally worth it and gets much easier after this point!

Next, chop up all your other veggies. Be careful when you chop the peppers to either wear gloves or to wash your hands VERY thoroughly afterwards, especially before touching your eyes/nose/mouth. Trust me, you don’t want jalapeno oils in your eye.

Once you’ve got all your veggies chopped, combine the tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, and lime juice in a stainless steel sauté pan.

Stir the mixture frequently over medium-high heat until the mixture cooks down a bit and comes to a boil. Then, add the remaining ingredients and continue to boil the salsa gently for an additional five minutes, stirring frequently.

And that’s it! You can either let the salsa cool and put it in the fridge to use within a few days, or you can put it in canning jars to preserve for the winter (canning instructions below). Happy cooking!

For hot water canning: boil pint jars in canning pot to sterilize. Fill jars with salsa, leaving a 1/2″ space at the top. Put a clean lid on (one that has been dipped in hot water to soften the seal) and screw bands on until fingertip tight. Boil for 20 minutes, completely submerged in water. After 20 minutes remove the canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store.