Canned Fiesta Salsa

*This is the freshest tasting salsa from a can that I've ever tried--of course, I only canned it yesterday so maybe time will change it.  It reminds me of the salsa you can buy in the refrigerated section (which is my favorite, but of course costs more than the canned kind).  I spent approximately $4 on the peppers, cucumbers, and cilantro and it made 4 1/2 pints.  That puts this homemade salsa at just about $1 per jar.  This would be a good place to mention that it took me a long time to chop everything up--so let's just say it cost about $1 per jar plus approximately 45 minutes of labor per jar.  How's your billing rate?

Taken from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving

Ingredients:

7 cups chopped, seeded, peeled, cored tomatoes (I used a combination of Roma tomatoes, regular tomatoes, and even a handful of cherry tomatoes)

2 cups chopped, seeded, peeled cucumbers (about 1 1/2 cukes)

2 cups chopped and seeded banana peppers

1 cup sliced green onion

1/2 cup chopped, peeled, roasted Anaheim peppers (approx 1 pepper)**

1/2 cup chopped jalapeño peppers (I used 3 peppers that made 2/3 cup)

1/4 cup minced cilantro

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T minced fresh marjoram (I used 1 t dried)

1 t salt

1/2 cup cider vinegar

2 T lime juice (loved this, will add double that next time)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot.  Bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.  Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Adjust two-piece caps.  process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Note:  When cutting or seeding hot peppers, ear rubber gloves to prevent hands from being burned.

*I would rate this as a mild to medium salsa--just the way I like it.  Even my 2 year old likes it.  Next time I have a surplus of tomatoes, I will look at making this again--but I will add that a food processor could have been very helpful chopping all those veggies!  As a side note, after filling 4 pints, I had about 1/2 a pint left over.  I processed it in an old artichoke hearts bottle and it sealed perfectly!  I didn't know that used jars and lids could be recycled that way.  That makes me wonder, can you reuse the lids from previous cannings?  Let me know if you've done it successfully.

**To roast the Anaheim pepper:

1.  Spray cooking sheet with baking spray and place peppers not touching on sheet.

2.  Turn oven on to high broil and place baking sheet approx 4-6 inches below broiler.

3.  Use tongs to turn peppers every few minutes.  Remove from oven when all sides are blackened.

4.  Place peppers in paper bag for 10-15 minutes to let steam.

5.  Wearing gloves, peel the blackened skin away from pepper.