Roasted Tomato and Garlic Salsa with Mushrooms (0 points)

This fire-roasted salsa has deep, smoky notes. This salsa is a nutritional powerhouse with a secret ingredient- roasted mushrooms.

Salsa! I am declaring the rest of February salsa month. I know that in some parts of the country, spring is already starting to peek out, but, here in Philly, it is still cold, cold, cold. I need something caliente in my life. For the rest of the month, I’m going to bring you spicy, healthy salsa recipes.

Despite the blog title, it’s been a while since I’ve posted a salsa recipe. I was reminded of this the other day at my Weight Watchers meeting (I know I’ve said I don’t like going to meetings before but I started going again a few weeks ago and I’m really enjoying them this time). Our leader asked us to commit to eating vegetables for every meal. Naturally, I shared that I get my veggies in the morning by adding a big heap of salsa to everything.

4 point breakfast! Egg, sliced avocado and roasted tomato salsa

Did you know that 1/2 cup of salsa counts as a serving of vegetables? That might sound like a lot to some, but not to me. Just about anything can be improved with a bit of salsa- eggs, burritos, wraps, burgers, sandwiches, potatoes, beans, rice, vegetables, quesadillas, tacos, chicken, fish, steak and even salads.

So, I thought I would start with one of my favorite salsa recipes. The veggies in this salsa get a nice, deep roast before being pureed. The result is a smoky, pungent and just slightly sweet salsa. And because one of my central philosophies is to add more veggies to everything, I decided to add an unconventional salsa vegetable. One cup of roasted mushrooms adds to the general smokiness and combines very well with the roasted tomatoes and garlic. If you’re not a mushroom lover, the taste is barely noticeable but you can also omit them altogether.

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Salsa (with mushrooms)

Ingredients:

• 3 tomatoes, cut in half
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1/4 large onion (or half a medium onion)
• 1-2 jalapeños (2 is decently spicy!)
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms (about 5 ounces)
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1.    Turn on your broiler. Arrange the tomatoes, onion, jalapeños and mushrooms on a baking dish. Don’t add the garlic just yet. Place under the broiler and roast for 5-10 minutes, until the veggies get a good char.

2.    Flip the vegetables and char them on the other side. Add the garlic to the baking dish (garlic needs less time than everything else). The vegetables should be done in another 5 minutes.

3.    Let the vegetables cool. Then add the charred vegetables plus the cilantro and salt to a blender or food processor. Puree the salsa until it has the consistency you like. I like mine to be about medium chunky so I stop before it’s totally smooth.

You can store the salsa in a glass jar or a plastic container. Salsas usually stay fresh for a week or more.

Weight Watchers Points+: 0

Calories: negligible

If you liked this recipe, check out all my other salsa recipes here!