Celebrate Cinco de Mayo With Mesquite Smoked Salsa

Mesquite Smoked Salsa for Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the Mexican victory over the French on May 5, 1862. It is widely celebrated both here in the USA and in Mexico.

Need a dish to bring to a Cinco de Mayo party this Saturday? Got a smoker? Try Mesquite Smoked Salsa. Roma or Plum tomatoes, jalapenos, red onion and garlic are all smoked to create this wonderful mesquite flavoring.

Even though it takes awhile to smoke (4.5 hrs. at 250 degrees), it is very simple to make and worth the time. Smoke the vegetables the day before and refrigerate overnight. Chop everything up the next day and serve. For your convenience, has three locations here in Norcross that have all the ingredients for this recipe. Everyone will enjoy this twist on salsa!

Mesquite Smoked Salsa

6 Roma or Plum tomatoes

2 lg jalapenos

1 medium red onion

1 head of garlic

1 lime, juiced

1 cup of chopped cilantro

Kosher salt to taste

Tortilla chips

Set up a smoker with charcoal, mesquite wood chunks and an aluminum cake pan filled half way with water in it to steam the vegetables as they smoke. When the temperature reaches 250 degrees, add the tomatoes, jalapenos, head of garlic and the red onion sliced in half. Smoke for 4.5 hours. Let cool. Skin, core and finely chop the tomatoes. Stem, core, and seed the jalapenos and finely chop. Peeled the onion skin off and finely chop. Sliced the top 1/3 of the head of garlic off and squeeze out the roasted garlic. Combine everything in a bowl adding the juice of one lime, chopped cilantro, and Kosher salt to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.