Fresh Cranberry Corn Salsa And Raw Cranberry Apple Salsa

One year ago this month I started my blog and one of the recipes I featured in December was a festive cranberry corn salsa that I used to make mostly from canned goods. That's not such a bad thing, especially if you're short on time. But since I like to control the sodium and freshness of the ingredients I use I decided to make it from fresh ingredients. The salsa tastes great either way though.

Fresh Cranberry Corn Salsa 

RECIPE:

Make a basic cranberry sauce of your choice

The rest:

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, if you are not fond of cilantro, substitute with fresh parsley

1 Anaheim pepper, or 1/2-3/4 cup, diced

1/3 cup diced red onion

1 cup corn, preferably from frozen bag

About 1 tablespoon honey or sugar, or both to reduce tartness

I started with a basic cranberry sauce.

The heat you want in the salsa is up to you. I chose mild heat from an Anaheim pepper, which is the first pepper on the left below. The middle pepper is a Cubanelle and is mild with no heat and would be a good substitute if Anaheims aren't available. The dark green pepper on the right is a Poblano with stronger heat and usually needs to be roasted to reduce the heat.

I sliced open the pepper, scrapped out the seeds and membranes, sliced into strips, then diced them.

Next, I diced one quarter of a medium red onion.

Total amount of Anaheim pepper and red onion is about 1/2-3/4 cup pepper (or one Anaheim) and about 1/3 cup red onion. And total amount of chopped fresh cilantro is about 1/4 cup.

Mix it all into the cranberry sauce along with one cup of corn. I used frozen organic corn, again to avoid cans (does not need to be thawed).

I let the salsa sit for about 30 minutes to build flavor. After tasting, I thought it was a little tart so I added more honey/sugar. Please buy local honey or know your source - there have been reports of possible tainted honey. 

Fresh and delicious!

Another option for the Cranberry Corn Salsa: the Anaheim peppers can be roasted (to be more like canned chopped chili peppers), see below, like I did to make the salsa with leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. This will make them taste sweeter but also more work! It also requires more peppers to make the salsa. Either way, the salsa ends up tasting the same. If you want to roast the peppers, I used four Anaheim peppers for that recipe.

Mostly organic and local. 

Awesome Local Salsa and Pasta Sauce

How lucky was I to be in Whole Foods the other day when Steve from Poblano Farm was there demonstrating his salsa! I learned that Poblano Farm is a local sustainable tomato and pepper farm here in Rhode Island. The salsas tasted so good and fresh, I bought both flavors, Roasted Salsa and Mild Salsa. While shopping I found their pasta sauce and grabbed a jar of that also.

Both the salsa and pasta sauces are thick and wonderfully fresh tasting. The tomato flavor is amazing . . . not over processed, and this Providence Journal article explains why, http://www.golocalprov.com/food/grow-local-poblano-farms-salsa/

This is the mild salsa and I really love the consistency and fresh tomato flavor with guajillo peppers.

The Roasted Salsa is also delicious with poblano and jalapeno peppers and has that amazing fresh tomato flavor.

I usually make my own sauce, but what a treat having a great jarred sauce that's made locally on hand for a busy weeknight.

Poblano Farm also sells a Chipotle Salsa. We'll be trying that next!

Look here to find out where to buy:  http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farm.php?farm=2223

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This is strictly my opinion, without compensation, about something I love.

Festive Cranberry Corn Salsa

Here is holiday side dish that we love. I make a fresh version when I have time, but using the few canned items in this recipe is a valuable time-saver around the holidays.

We love serving this salsa with organic blue corn chips. They look so pretty together. 

And it makes a great gift.

NOTE: I always gift it with a bag of organic blue corn chips so it can be used immediately because the salsa has not been preserved. So gift soon after making it (keep refrigerated for up to a week, and can be frozen for a few months). I always attach a nice note card with the gift explaining this.

Cranberry Corn Salsa Recipe:
I found this recipe in Cooking Light Magazine a few years ago, but can't find a direct link to it. It is featured on this website, check it out for a printable version of the recipe.

1/4 cup diced red onion
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro, or a little more to taste (can substitute with parsley)
1 16 oz can organic whole-berry cranberry sauce (or same amount of leftover fresh cranberry sauce)
1 15.25 oz can organic whole-kernel corn, drained (I use no salt; for less corn, use the 7 oz can)
1 4.5 oz can chopped mild green chili peppers

Combine all the ingredients then chill in refrigerator at least 30 minutes to build the flavors.

Also tastes great in sandwiches, with meals, and in cottage cheese! 

Happy Holidays!

For the fresh version of this Cranberry Corn Salsa, please see this post.