Homemade CHILI'S Salsa

The Superbowl is always a big deal at my house. I always try something new, and it's normally a big hit....

All except for the time I made some chocolate peanut butter surprise cookies-- chocolate on the inside with a peanut butter cookie in the center-- that was the same year as the peanut butter/salmonella fiasco and yes, my husband and I both got slightly sick from the cookies. But we didn't realize it was from the cookies, so after we got better, we ate more cookies, which made us sick again. I've never made those cookies again, although they were good.  BUT, I DIGRESS...

This year my husband-- whose favorite snack is a plate of nachos-- wanted a Mexican theme. He also wanted the yummy taste of the salsa from the chain restaurant Chili's, which we frequent from time to time, so he scoured the internet, and fount a mock version of it. I wrote a few extra articles for work, and saved enough money to get a new food processor, my 1-cup size processor just wouldn't work for this recipe.

Here's my adjustments to the yummy recipe he found online:

(1) 14.5 oz can tomatoes with green chilies (with juice)
(1) 14.5 oz can tomatoes (with juice)
4 teaspoons (or to taste) canned--not pickled-- jalapenos
(1) 4.5 oz can of green chilies
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/3 garlic clove (optional)
2 teaspoon fresh cilantro


1. Place jalapenos, onions and garlic in food processor for a few seconds, until blended.
2. Add both cans of tomatoes, green chilies, lime juice, cilantro, salt, sugar and cumin.
3. Process until blended, but do not puree.
4. Cover and chill for a few hours, or over night, to let the flavors blend.
5. Serve with thin corn tortilla chips.


...... Now if we could just find (and perfect) Chili's beefy cheese Skillet Queso dip I'd be in Heaven!

Black Bean Tart

The next recipe that caught my interest was a Black Bean Tart. I'll admit that I DID NOT follow this recipe exactly. First, I did not have a fluted tart pan, so I attempted to bake this in a pyrex dish. Secondly, I toned down the amount of onions, since my husband DOES NOT LIKE ONIONS (however, I didn't realize this needed to be capitalized until this exact recipe). The original recipe in the book calls for a medium white onion, however the online recipe calls for green onion, either way wouldn't have matter for my husband.

I enjoyed the texture of the pureed black beans and sour cream mixture- I'll definitely use this technique for future bean dips, however the crust was NOT light or flaky, and my husband did not like the onion-y-ness of the dish. I've eaten dish sans crust, and enjoyed it as a nacho-type of dip with chips. Basically a THUMBS DOWN for this recipe