Chipotle Salsa (And a Breakfast Tostada to Boot)

It's tomato season! While my poor little tomato plants have been cruelly neglected, leading them to provide me with a total of 10 puny little grape tomatoes, thankfully my CSA farm employs much better tomato nurturers.

Besides putting tomatoes on all my salads and sandwiches, I've made a couple delicious homemade salsas this week. The first is a roasted poblano salsa (poblanos also from the CSA!) and the second is a fresh tomato chipotle number featured in this post. It's crazy easy and results in a spicy smoky salsa perfect for all your chip-eating needs. I made it in a food processor since I'm a big fan of the restaurant-style pureed salsa, but you could also hand-chop all the ingredients and mix for a chunkier version. Bonus: it went great on a breakfast tostada we made to kick off a gorgeous Saturday in Maryland.

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Awesome Peanut Sauce for Satay

I found this recipe for chicken satays with peanut dipping sauce a while ago and haven't looked back since. Once you make this, you'll never make another peanut sauce again! With a food processor and a reasonably short shopping list, this sauce is a cinch to make and lasts a while in the fridge. Serve with grilled chicken (or any other meat, or tofu - can you grill tofu??) skewers or veggies. When I use chicken, I marinate it first in a simple Asian marinade (either a homemade mix or Makoto Ginger Dressing).

One ingredient this calls for is a shallot, which I use all the time as a more mild onion. Shallots are great for dressings, marinades, and sauces and don't need to be cooked to have a great, mild flavor. Today's shallot is brought to you by Frieda's - it came along with the Meyer lemons and red pearl onions.

this is a shallot, my friends

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Romesco Sauce

I hopped on the bandwagon and made myself some Romesco sauce a couple weeks ago, and boy was I glad I did! This Catalonian sauce combines roasted red peppers with almonds; add a serious smoky kick and you've got an incredibly versatile condiment. I served it with grilled salmon, spring onions, and broccoli, but the leftovers went on sandwiches, in salads (thinned out a bit with yogurt) and even just scooped up with crackers.

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