Rule the Kitchen with the Ninja Ultima Blender: Fresh Salsa Recipe

Juicing and smoothing and blending drinks is ALL the rage right now for home cooks and families.  Can’t get your kids to eat veggies or fruit?  Blend it up with some yogurt and ice cubes and make it fun and yummy!  Want to add lots of vitamins and minerals to your diet without chewing and chewing and chewing on raw vegetables all day?  Blend it up and take it like a champ.  I’ve tried this with my old blender before and no.  No, some of them were not good.  Unless the fruit or vegetables were fully mushy cooked or very ripe and soft, most of my blended smoothies always ended up chunky and unpalatable.

The Ninja Ultima Blender, however, has changed that for me.  I love the single serve cups. I can blend something quick and throw on the lid and be out the door in no time.  It features the following and can replace MANY of your single-use kitchen appliances!

• 2.5 Peak Horsepower Motor/24,000 RPM***
• Only blender with Dual Stage Blending
• Total Crushing^™ & High Speed Cyclonic Blades
• PRO Variable Speed
• Gives you a wide range of speeds to create anything from sauces to whole juices!
• 2 Single Serve Cups with Sip & Seal^™ lids for personalized drinks on the go

One of my favorite things to make (because I get so many compliments on it) is fresh salsa.  There are MANY ways to make it but this is my way – and the Ninja Ultima Blender makes it SO much easier.  Here is my recipe using the Ninja Ultima Blender!

This recipe is easily scalable and you will add to the Ninja in layers to preserve the texture.  Over-blending will cause the tomato base to look orange and frothy – not visually appealing or tasty.

1 can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
1-3 roughly chopped jalapenos* (to taste; 1 would be a mild salsa, 3 much hotter – you can also seed the jalapenos for less heat)
1/2 a raw white or sweet yellow onion, roughly chopped
About a tablespoon of minced garlic, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Handful of roughly chopped cilantro (Optional)

This recipes yields a couple of cups of salsa (good for a small family).  I usually triple it for friends and potlucks.

1. Drop the jalapenos, onion, garlic, salt and pepper into the Ninja Ultima Blender with about half of the can of diced tomatoes.  Blend very slowly in bursts (pulse) until the onion and jalapeno are suited to your texture liking.  Do NOT overblend.  The Ninja is extremely powerful so go slow and do not rush it or you will have a very fine puree!

Pour it into a large non-metallic bowl and return the blender pitcher to the Ninja.  Pour in the fire roasted tomatoes (the whole can) and a small handful of optional cilantro.  Pulse 1 or 2 times.  You just want to soften the edges of the tomato, not puree or overblend (if you do, it will turn frothy and gross, trust).

Add the tomato/cilantro mixture to the bowl and mix well together.  Taste and re-season if necessary.  Cilantro will go bitter if refrigerated too long so you can always add it just before serving as well.

*Note about jalapenos – use extreme caution and don’t rub your face or eyes while the oils are on your skin.  Wash thoroughly and be careful around kids and pets after, too.  The oils will cause excessive tearing and pain if they get in contact with mucous membranes (eyes, nose).  If it happens, wash and flush (use olive oil on the skin for burning).  You can also wear rubber gloves.

Be sure to check out the Recipe section of the Ninja Ultima website!

Disclosure: I received the above product for review purposes only. All thoughts and opinions are my own.