During the hot summer months my kitchen (the oven in particular) goes into hibernate mode. Most evenings we grill out on the back deck and eat lots of salmon, shrimp, chicken and lean pork (which means Chris is in charge of dinner!). Add a quick rice or veggie side and dinner is done. You won’t find me pouring over my cookbooks, planning out new menus… nope, not inspired. This weekend, however, I did try a great new salsa recipe that I just have to share. I saw Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Taco episode on Food Network a few weeks ago, and just had to try it.

For the simple salsa:
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained, reserving the juice (recommended: San Marzano)
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
1 Serrano chile
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

To make salsa, pulse all the ingredients, except the tomato juice, in a food processor. Add the reserved tomato juice if the salsa is too thick. Drizzle salsa with olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and set aside, allowing the flavors to marry.

My normal salsa recipe calls for several jalapeno peppers, so while shopping for this recipe I couldn’t believe that one tiny little serrano pepper (not bigger than my pinky finger) could possible provide enough heat. Luckily I had the good sense to follow the instructions first (I could always add another pepper later). The heat was dead on. Very fresh & bright salsa and super simple. This might replace my old recipe.  Here’s the link to the episode.  I hope to try the tacos and corn soon.