Beautiful photography in this post by Nina Menconi. Huge thanks to Ariel and Debbie Sultan at Food Guru for their amazing video on how to make my salsas.
What I love most about Taco Tuesday is that the whole family can get involved in making dinner delicious. Creating easy to assemble fixings for a build your own taco bar is the way to go when you are tight on time but still want the whole family to eat well. I’ve found the key to keeping this theme night fresh and fun is to mix it up each week with a homemade salsa topper.
My friends Debbie and Ariel Sultan, co-founders of Food Guru, captured just how fun and easy it can be to whip up fresh salsas. After watching our minute-long tutorial, you can become a salsa master, too!
When it comes to cooking for my family, I love using seasonal fruit like pineapples for my weekly salsa fix. They are so naturally juicy with just the right balance of acidity and sweetness. Just add a little lime juice, cilantro, spring radishes and green onions to your diced pineapple and you’re ready to take your taco to a whole new level. Oh, how I can eat this salsa with a spoon!
My other tip for making taco night stress free is to keep the stuffing simple. My loco good pinto bean stuffing is ready in just 15 minutes, using canned organic beans and a quick saute of onions and bright yellow bell pepper with spices and fresh lime juice.
Be sure to have some fun this summer trying out your own version of salsa after you’ve mastered my three favorite easy recipes, perfect for any family’s Taco Tuesday.
About Food Guru:
Mother/ daughter team, Debbie and Ariel Sultan, use their baby boomer-millennial perspectives to form Food Guru, a marketing and video production company. They work as an agency and marketing department for food and beverage businesses to create, connect, and convert audiences to loyal customers and influencers. Check out their sizzle reel here.
- Pinto beans, (30 oz.)
- Garlic, 2 cloves
- Red onion, 1
- Yellow bell pepper, 1
- Jalapeno, 1
- Salt, 1 teaspoon
- Olive oil, 2 tablespoons
- Cumin, 1 ½ teaspoons
- Cayenne, ¼ teaspoon
- Chili powder, 2 teaspoons
- Lime, 1 (juice and zest)
- Corn or Flour tortillas, small, 1 package
- Pineapple (1/2 fresh, medium sized)
- Red radish, 1 bunch
- Green onion, 1 bunch
- Lime, 1
- Cilantro, ½ cup
- Tomatoes, 4 large
- Salt, 1 tsp.
- Onion (red), medium sized, 1/4
- Jalapeño pepper, medium sized, 1
- Cilantro (fresh), 1 cup (packed)
- Garlic, 2 cloves
- Lime, 1
- Olive oil, about ¼ cup
- Tomatillos, 6, medium sized
- Garlic, 2 cloves
- Cilantro (fresh), 1 cup (packed)
- Onion (white), small to medium, ¼
- Jalapeño pepper, small, 1
- Salt, 2 tsp.
- Lime, 1
- Avocados, 2
- Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
- Drain beans, rinse, and hold.
- Cut onion and bell pepper into dice.
- In a preheated skillet, add olive oil and salt and sauté onion, bell pepper and jalapeno on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.
- Add spices and continue to cook for another minute to warm up spices.
- Add beans and heat through for another few minutes.
- Squeeze lime over mixture and stir well.
- Build tacos with bean mixture on the bottom and some of your fresh salsa on top!
- Put diced green onion and chopped cilantro (stems and leaves) into a medium sized bowl.
- Add the zest and juice of your lime.
- To prepare the pineapple: twist off the top. Cut off the rind with a knife. Then cut the pineapple into quarters. Remove the core with your knife. Chop pineapple into dice.
- Slice radish into thin rounds or half-moon shapes and add to the salsa.
- Cut tomatoes into small dice: first slice into rounds, then into slices and then into dice. We like cutting tomatoes with a serrated knife (bread knife), as it cuts easily through the tomato’s skin.
- Put the diced tomatoes in a bowl and add salt to allow the tomatoes to release their natural juices while you are cutting up the remaining ingredients.
- Dice ¼ of the red onion.
- Deseed the jalapeño, and cut into small dice. The easiest way to do this is to cut down one side, like you would an apple, trying to avoid the core. Then, you can cut down the other three sides. You should be left with a stem attached to the spicy seeds. Discard the stem and seeds. Don't forget to wash your hands after handling the jalapeño! The oils from the pepper get on your skin and can sting your eyes or anywhere else you touch. Many people wear gloves when handling jalapeños.
- Roughly chop 1-cup cilantro leaves.
- Cut garlic into a fine mince.
- Zest and juice the lime.
- Drain the salted tomatoes. They should have released a good bit of juice.
- In a large bowl, mix the drained tomatoes with olive oil, the chopped cilantro, minced garlic, zest and juice of the lime, diced jalapeño, and red onion. Stir together well. The longer the salsa sits, the more flavor will develop.
- Turn on your oven’s broiler to high.
- Wash the cilantro, lime, jalapeño pepper, and avocados.
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos.
- Rinse the tomatillos under water to remove the sticky coating. Cut them into halves, and place on a parchment or tinfoil lined cookie sheet with raised sides, and broil for 10 minutes.
- Peel the garlic and set aside.
- Measure out 1-cup cilantro, packed. Don’t fuss with picking leaves. Just rip off the tops of the cilantro. They will go in a blender, so it does not need to be perfect.
- Peel and cut the onion into quarters. You will add ¼ of the onion to the blender for this salsa.
- Deseed the jalapeño. The easiest way to do this is to cut down one side, like you would an apple, trying to avoid the core. Then, you can cut down the other three sides. You should be left with a stem attached to the spicy seeds. Discard the stem and seeds. The remaining pieces will go into the blender. Don't forget to wash your hands after handling the jalapeño! The oils from the pepper get on your skin and can sting your eyes or anywhere else you touch. Many people wear gloves when handling jalapeños.
- Juice and zest the lime.
- Put all the ingredients in a blender, except the avocado, and blend until chunky. Add diced avocado and gently mix. Enjoy!