Holiday Cranberry Salsa

by Ann

In the southwest we love our food hot.  We love salsa.  We love fresh ingredients and big flavors.  I love anything Christmas, so the recipe that I am sharing with you today combines the best of all of these concepts! 

A couple of years ago the teacher who took my place as the Family and Consumer Sciences (formerly home economics) position at the high school where I previously taught gave me a great Holiday Cranberry Salsa; a gift that would be perfect if you find yourself in the position to give “something small” to co-workers, neighbors, or friends.

Cranberry Salsa

1 (12 oz) bag or three cups of fresh cranberries
¼ c minced green onions

2 small (approximately 2 T) jalapeños, cored, seeded, and mince
½ c granulated sugar
¼ c cilantro leaves, chopped
2 T finely grated fresh ginger root
2 T freshly squeezed orange juice
2 t fresh orange zest

1.       Rinse, drain, and pick through cranberries, discarding any that are soft or bruised.

2.       Process berries in a food processor, pulsing until finely chopped but not mushy.

3.       Mix cut berries with remaining ingredients and refrigerate for at least four hours for flavors to develop before serving.

Serve over cream cheese with crackers.

 

Be sure to rinse and sort the berries.  I discarded any that were too white or at all shriveled or mushy.

One of the keys to the end result being fabulous is to have the berries chopped not to small (or they'd get mushy) and not too big (too tart).  I have never done this without the food processor, but imagine you could.   Using the processor, I press the "pulse" button until berries are chopped into about eighths. 

When I recieved it as a gift, the Cranberry Salsa was presented in a canning jar with a pinking-sheared square of Christmas fabric over the flat part of the lid of a canning jar.   (See photo)  Attached to it was a holiday-themed index card tied with a pretty bow including the wonderful recipe which I will be sharing below.  I have since made this each holiday season, always resulting in rave reviews.  If you do make this as gifts, a jar with about ¾ - 1 cup would be enough because it is served over a block of cream cheese to be eaten with crackers.

 

Yum.  Just thinking about this makes me excited to make it again for this post.  It is fabulous, and is a nice treat to bring to potlucks or put out at cocktail parties.  It will stay fresh for four days or so in the fridge.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

You will need to create or print a card like the sample below if you want to use this as a gift idea.  Can you believe it's almost December?!  Happy Holidays!