Cranberry Salsa

I know I've been posting quite sporadically since just before Thanksgiving. I'm still a little sick. No fever, but I have what I call my mucous moments that last anywhere from a half hour to 45 minutes....coughing, nose blowing, head draining disgusting moments. Then I'm just exhausted. But it's getting better.

My Thanksgiving was nice, but a little overdone. I made too many "heavy" items and it really took it's toll on the meal, but maybe that was just me. Everyone else seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

You know what was the really big hit of the meal? Not the turkey or gravy or mashed potatoes or cauliflower gratin or the stuffing or even the pumpkin latte cheesecake for dessert. It was one of the appetizers, Suzanne's Cranberry Salsa!

I have to admit, after I started putting the ingredients together, I didn't think I would like it all that much. I thought it would be too sweet for me, but boy was I wrong. This salsa is the perfect balance of sweet and spicy.

All my guests loved it and kept going back for more. Tom and I ate it for two days afterward and finally froze a small bag full for another time.

An added bonus was that, with all the other stuff to do for a holiday meal, this salsa was a cinch to prepare. Roughly chop the veggies, dump all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until it's the salsa consistency you like. How easy is that?

I did change a couple of the ingredients. Instead of using stewed tomatoes, I used fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and I swapped out the fresh jalapeno for the candied jalapenos I posted HERE. Everything else was strictly according to Suzanne's recipe.



Cranberry Salsa
Adapted from You Made That?

1 28 oz. can of stewed tomatoes (I used 2 - 14-oz cans of fire-roasted diced tomatoes)
1 small can of whole cranberry sauce or homemade
2 sticks celery chopped
8 baby carrots chopped
1 red onion chopped
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 jalapeño seeded (I used 1/4 cup of chopped candied jalepeños)
1/2 bunch of cilantro
3 T. brown sugar
2 tsp. salt
4 T. spicy vinegar or red wine vinegar

Put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until the consistency of salsa. Chill in refrigerator until cold and serve with tortilla chips.

Suzanne also notes that you could make this recipe without the cranberry sauce, but I used the cranberry sauce and I really liked it.