Cranberry Salsa (Salad Dressing)

Ingredients

1 (12 ounce) bag cranberries, fresh or frozen

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 bunch green onions, cut into 3 inch lengths

1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

2 Tbsp. Lime juice

¼ cup sugar (or to taste)*

Salt and pepper

Directions

Dump all this into a food processor and pulse until smooth. Let it sit for about ten minutes. Taste for sweetness/seasoning. Its better the next day when the sugar/salt break down the cranberry and mingle flavors.

Cook’s Notes

This recipe originally has ¾ -1 cup of sugar, and it’s served over cream cheese with crackers as a party dip. It’s awesome that way. It’s super not good for you. I cut the sugar way back, and often up the heat with a second Jalapeno. Makes this more like a cranberry vinaigrette without the oil. It’s spicy and tart. More about the sugar below.

I use regular white sugar. I have also completely replaced the sugar with Splenda, which works fine. When I made it at Thanksgiving last, I upped the jalapeno to two and used a combination of brown sugar and whole orange. You can also use honey.

Over the last few years this has replaced cooked cranberry sauce when I cook turkey and stuffing. You can add orange zest, the meat of whole orange and adjust the sugar accordingly

I also use this salsa as a salad dressing. It works particularly well for a grains and veggies salad (I like farro, roasted beets, white beans and chopped kale or arugula.)

I also like it as a “slaw” dressing. My favorite is a combination of raw shredded beets, apple, carrot, and cabbage. (pictured here—apple and cabbage because that’s what I had in the fridge.) The apple and the beets add some natural sweetness.