Here is pixie lou's statement.

Annies Salsa - This is Zabby's fault since she posted this amazing salsa soup recipe (Well, I guess I didn't have to make all that soup just because she posted the recipe!)

...anyone know...

I've never seen a "recipe" but here's what Zabby posted to me after I made a batch of Annie's Salsa without tomato paste (my can was bulging and didn't want to risk it) and came out thin. Not too mention that my glass-top stove had shut off (limiter?) during processing so I have to refrigerate the whole batch.

"But as to what you can do with the "salsa soup," my recommendation is, well, to go with it and make soup! ONe reason I make so much of Annie's salsa is having discovered (thanks to this forum) that adding can of rinsed, drained black beans --- and some corn if you have some --- to it and heating it up produces one rockin' Southwestern-style tomato soup!

Z"

I took 2 pints of salsa, brought it to a simmer, added a can of drained beans and some frozen corn just as she said, and it was great! Made that a couple of time in the fall, then decided to conserve the homemade salsa for chips!

But a spoonful of Annie's stirred into a bowl of tomato soup (all I had was the red and white label condensed stuff, don't exile me from the board LOL!) is great too!

Hi Ruthie. What ajsmama said. I guess it really wasn't a "recipe". Per Zabby's recommendation, I take a pint of Annie's Salsa, open a pint of black beans and a pint of corn, mix them all together in a pot. Sometimes I thin with chicken stock. It really is yummy. Need to make a gazillion pints of salsa next year so we can eat this soup once a week.

ruthie,

It's as everyone has said above---no recipe, just add cooked beans to a jar of Annie's salsa and heat! It's amazing! I add corn if I have some in the freezer, and if it's thick (or I need a little extra) thin it out with some water or chicken broth. (My batches of salsa come out different consistencies depending on the kind of tomatoes used.)

Have gotten so many compliments on this soup. It's my go-to recipe when I have unexpected vegetarian company. Great with cornbread or tortilla chips. I call it "Southwestern Tomato Soup" when I serve it to company so it doesn't SOUND like all I did was open a jar of salsa one a can of beans.... ;-p

But I do feel I should point out that it wasn't my idea---I got the recommendation from someone else at this forum years ago, and I feel bad that I don't remember whom! I usually make a note of whom I got a recipe from, but since this wasn't a "real" recipe I didn't keep it anywhere and have forgotten the source.

Someone mentioned in passing that she'd made soup from Annie's salsa, and I asked for the recipe, and she said just what I told AJsmamma and PixieLou---to just open a can of black beans, rinse 'em and dump 'em in, and heat. I tried it and was hooked. (Whoever you are who gave me this tip, if you are reading this, please speak up so we can all express our gratitude!)

I started making a lot more salsa after that---we're only occasional tortilla chip eaters here, but me and DH both work at home and we need a lot of soups for winter lunches!

Funny I shd come across this today, because we'll be having the salsa soup for dinner shortly. I've got black beans simmering on the stove. We need to go out this evening to a meeting that's a fairly long drive away so I needed something quick to prepare and eat, but hearty.

And warm. It is COLD up here in the True North these days!

Enjoy your soup.

Best,

Z

Thanks everyone for the responses. I searched and searched and glad to know that I wasn't just missing it. My curiosity peaked because I make tons of Annie's Salsa and I always can enough that I have plenty just to use as a "cooking sauce" I use it in every thing one would normally use with tomatoes or tomato sauce. Chili, soup, you name it and it is so wonderful and the thing I like is that if I am in a big hurry, the onions, garlic etc etc is already there.....

Thanks again.

ruthie,

It's nice to hear from you! Hope you're feeling well.

I've started using the salsa on a lot more things, too, as I realized the same thing you say---that it's got onion, pepper, etc. already so you can add a lot of flavour to something with just opening one jar. I put it on eggs, on Kraft Dinner (yes, we like Kraft Dinner, it's sad but true), on burgers....

Ed'A

I don't know if any of you like Cuban style black beans but its a tradition in our family since all the kids have cuban heritage. We have them on Christmas even every year with rice of course and numerous times throughout the year. You cook the beans and add chopped onion, pepper, garlic and tomato......You can see where this is going right.

I always can some beans just so I can go grab them off the shelf or I will even buy them from time to time. Take a couple of pints of black beans, a jar of Annie's salsa,(or any really) heat and serve over rice.......doesn't taste much different that the one you cook for hours...

zabby - Kraft Dinner? Might that be what's known as Macaroni and Cheese in the US ;-)?

I've been making my chili with salsa added in the last hour of cooking for almost 20 years. Started using Annie's for that, but it's too precious so I'm back to the store-bought stuff. We like it on eggs too.

ruthie - nice to "meet" you! I gather you've had some health issues? I must have joined the forum while you were out. Glad to see you back - my DH is from TX too.

I made Zabby's salsa soup yesterday. It was great! It was quick and easy to prepare. I gave some to a friend at work and they raved about it. I going to wear myself out canning Annies salsa this summer. I thought 24 pints would be more than enough this year. I was wrong :)

Scott

Scott,

It's amazing how much salsa you need to put up when it becomes a lunch staple! It IS great. It's really not right to call it "Zabby's," since the salsa recipe is Annie's and the idea to make soup out of it came from someone else at this forum. I am so annoyed that I can't rembmer who! Anyway, I'm glad to do my small part in spreading the idea around.

ajsmamma,

Heh. Yes, for some reason Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is called Kraft Dinner in this country. ;-0 It's the same ultra-processed stuff in a box.

I now grow all my own tomatoes (in the winter I eat only my own home-canned) and many other veggies, buy my other produce from farmers' markets in season, get eggs from a farmer nearby and cheese from two local artisanal cheese makers (one is 105 years old; the other is brand-new, and has won awards as the most ecologically sound cheese business on the planet), and am moving toward buying only locally raised meat.

But I still eat Kraft Dinner for a quick lunch from time to time. What can I say---that orange powdered cheese must be addictive. ;-)

ruthie,

I have a recipe from a Moosewood cookbook for cuban beans & rice but rather than using Annie's salsa INSTEAD Of cookig the beans with tomatoes, peppers, etc., I do BOTH---cook it with the spices and veggies, puree some, put it over rice (white or brown), and serve it all with a big dollop of Annie's salsa on TOP. And shredded cheese. Oh, my, it is some good.

I'll think of you from now on every time I make it (pretty often, in the long, cold winter....)

Z

Wow, will have to try this as soup! Sounds so yummy! I make a salsa chicken with Annie's salsa, Just cut up chicken and cook till no longer pink, add the salsa simmer for a bit. Serve on soft taco shells with what ever you like! We also use Annie's salsa for Sloppy Joes! Brown your hamb. drain, add the salsa and a small can of plain tomato sauce, simmer for a half an hour! It makes the best sloppy Joes! I discovered this by mistake one day when I was making beef tacos one night, it was simmering in a small crock pot and my son came home and was hungry saw it in the pot and plopped some on a bun, called me at work and said "Hey mom them was the best Sloppy Joes you ever made" I'm like, what are you talking about I made beef tacos! He said " when you come home slap that stuff on a bun you won't be sorry"! So I did, and well I never went back to my old recipe! Everyone raves about them!
My salsa isn't to hot, so it really works with the Joes!
Although I do try to make it hotter, it just never seem to have much heat!
I will be trying that soup this week! I just love this forum, so many great people and great ideas!
Thanks!
Brenda

ahbee - I experimented with hotter peppers, serranos and 1 hab didn't do it and I had to add dried powdered cayenne to make it hot enough for DH. This year I'm growing Thai peppers, Hinkelhatz, and Hot Portugals to see if any combo of those are hot enough for him.

ajsmama,
Have you tried the jalokia pepper. Supposed to be the hottest in the world! Seeing more sources now but last year I got mine from Thomson and Morgan. Didn't get them in early enough, though, so no peppers. I'll try again this year and start them inside earlier.

gardenswer writes > Have you tried the jalokia pepper.

Exactly what I was going to suggest. I've grown many of the so-called super hots over the years and the Bhut Jalokia is one of my favs ever.

A single ripe pod will heat up a pot of chili like you wouldn't believe and not overwhelm with a fruity taste like some of the habs do.

Wow, took me 5 tries to login - anybody else having problems?

john - have you ever tried Hinkelhatz? It's supposed to be pretty hot, but Fedco didn't have Scoville units on it. Thai Hots are 80,000. I *think* those might be hot enough for DH, I don't want to grow Bhut Jalokia and have too many to use. The rest of us are Yankees. My cousin gave us some jals last year, and what I thought were habs since he warned me about how hot they were - they turned out to be cherry peppers LOL - not even hot enough for me and the kids! So I made (as experiment, but will still have to make this year) multiple batches customized for individual tastes.

Sorry to get OT.

DH just came home with gingerale for DD (she came down with stomach virus/flu at Grandma's last night), I asked him what he wanted for dinner, he and DS agreed on salsa soup! Though not going to use Annie's - don't have enough left so it will be combo of Pace black bean and corn salsa and maybe some red and white label tomato soup - please forgive me! I've got to make lots of salsa this year since Zabby got us hooked on the soup!

I just found a bag of frozen tomatoes in my freezer - I think it may be just enough for a batch of Annies Salsa.

pixie lou,

I've got a two bags of 4 lbs each, exactly right for a double batch of salsa, and I even froze chopped peppers, a mix if hot and sweet, in the corresponding amount, so I could make one last batch of salsa when I had time.... That time hasn't come yet, and I'm out of crushed tomatoes, so I'm now wondering if I should use the toms for that instead, since I still have salsa. But on the other hand, if I run out of salsa later, store-bought is JUST not the same, but store-bought crushed/diced toms aren't as bad in comparison.

Oh, the dilemma!

Z

I made the soup last night, DH loved it, I added some chicken stock, and a small can of tomato sauce, one can black beans, and some canned corn! I added the sauce because I added to much broth! It was yummy, topped it off with some shredded Mexican cheese! Will be canning a lot more salsa this year!

A bit OT, but to follow up on the peppers - just got back from the greenhouse, marathon seed-starting session, planted the Hinkelhatz, Thai Hot, and Hot Portugals I had, but my cousin's fiance also had cayenne and of course cherry bombs and jalapenos. He had yellow bell peppers, pimientos, and I had King of the North bell peppers.

I lost track of how many tomatoes we started but he had German Johnson, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, and what he said (I didn't see) Black Russian (Krim?). Plus we planted Gardner's Delight cherry tomatoes for the kids, and organic Glacier and Pink Brandywine that I had. Oh, and Speckled Roman paste tomatoes.

My uncle has planted some Romas (?) and Celebrities, plus I think Sweet 100's. So we should have literally tons of tomatoes and hopefully enough different kinds of peppers this year to make spaghetti sauce and mild to hot salsa for everybody! Maybe even freeze peppers this year if I don't can them all (pickled or in salsa).

I told fiance about the salsa soup (have to tie back into the original topic LOL), he said that sounded really good, he doesn't like really hot stuff but is tired of plain old tomato or chicken noodle.

Zabby - I hope you made the salsa, you're right, store-bought is NOT the same!

Oh well, gotta shower now and get DD off the bus, then Bingo night at the school. Mango chutney is going to have to wait til Sunday.