More and more often these days, we find ourselves relishing the uber-satisfying, toothy goodness of great proteins sizzling hot off the grill – picture a juicy, brined, bone-in, thick-cut pork chop or ribeye sizzling and popping as it graces your plate right now…
As satisfying as those flavors are – now and again we love to up the flavor game with a salsa or slather (like this Columbian Guacamole – what isn’t better with avocado served up one way or another?).
As one who has been tinkering with the subtle flavors that various combinations of dried chiles can impart to different dishes for many moons, I’ve been playing with assorted salsas of late, many of which feature the almost magical flavor of roasted tomatoes in the mix, a great example being this Chile Roasted Cashew Tomato Salsa.
With a bit of planning, your hands on time here is about 12-15 minutes, and the results are amazing. Fiddle with the chiles to suit your family’s palate, and the chopped, roasted nuts are a strong player in this one.
1/2 cup cashews
5 dried cascabel chiles
2 dried pasilla chiles
3 morita chiles
6 large tomatoes, cored
3 garlic cloves
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
2-3 tsp kosher salt
Preheat your oven to 350.
Spread the cashews out on one half of a baking sheet, the chiles on the other; slide into the over for 5-7 minutes, the pull the chiles. Continue to roast the nuts until nice and brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Reset the oven to 450, and now roast the tomatoes on the baking sheet for 30-35 minutes; you’re looking for the tomato skins to brown/blacken a bit in spot and the flesh to begin to pull away from the skins. Remove and cool for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, stem the chiles and set up your trusty blender.
Plop the tomatoes into the blender, and add the garlic, lime juice and salt; blend until smooth and the garlic is minced.
Now the fun part – add the chiles and pulse until coarsely chopped, then repeat with the cashews, taking care not to over-process – you want the cashews in chunks, not a paste.
Chill if you need to hold for more than an hour or two, though be sure to bring to room temp before serving.
Enjoy.
