Easy Resturant Style Salsa

Like I said before.  I have 50+ tomatoes and I wanted to get my salsa on.
I LOVE fresh salsa and when I came across The Pioneer Woman's Restaurant Style Salsa I knew I had to try it.
Tried it.
Loved it.
But would change a few things based on my own personal preference.  See those Astrix's?  Those are the things I would change. 
Instead of a can of tomatoes I used the fresh tomatoes.  I used about 10 tomatoes that were ready to party.
This salsa had some heat to it and I think so that I could kiss my husband I would cut the Jalapeno in half or not use it at all.

*1 can (28 oz) Whole Tomatoes with juice
2 cans (10 oz) Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies.  One mild, one original
1/4 cup diced white onion
1 clove garlic, minced
*1 whole Jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 cup Cilantro (more to taste!)
1/2 whole Lime Juice

(1) Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, Jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice and cilantro in a food processor.  Pulse until you get the desired consistency you'd like.
(2) Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Roasted Asparagus

Spring is in full force here in Iowa and I've been keeping tabs on my favorite wild asparagus patch.  Last week the stalks were not tall enough to be pulled but today I was able to pull a good half dozen. 
There really is nothing like fresh wild asparagus.  The flavor of the wild variety is so much better and what better way to eat it then roasted with Parmesan cheese!

Ingredients:
Asparagus, cleaned
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
(1) Preheat oven to 450.
(2) Clean and dry asparagus.
(3) Line a cooking sheet with parchment paper and place asparagus on top.
(4) Drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive oil over asparagus.
(5) Sprinkle asparagus with salt and pepper to your liking.  For me, the more the better!
(6) Sprinkle a generous amount of Parmesan cheese - but not too much you want to still be able to taste the asparagus.
(7) Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes.  Remove and let cool just a couple of minutes before eating the entire pan.  Yeah, it's that good.

Tomatoes

Almost off subject...but not quite. It's getting close - so close I'm about to scream like a little girl. That's right folks. It's almost time to plant my beloved tomatoes. I LOVE tomatoes. They remind me of my childhood. My great-grandma Opal would put on her crazy tie-dyed apron, throw a salt shaker in the pocket and tell us "we're going out to pick the tomatoes. Instead we ate them sprinkled with salt all over them right there in the garden.

My favorite of all the tomato varieties is the heirloom Brandy Wine Tomato. My only two problems with this tomato is that it takes.so.long.to.grow - 80 to 100 days and I will usually only get 2 tomatoes from the entire plant.

Perhaps it's all that waiting (and drooling) that makes them fantastic. I can't even find them at the Farmer's Market they're that good.

So here goes....in 80-100 days look for my post about the delicious Brandy Wine Tomato....that is if I don't eat it before I am able to take a picture of it on a burger or swimming in a pool of Balsamic Vinegar.