Cooking all over the World: Blueberry and Basil Habanero Salsa

Friday, September 9, 2011

Blueberry and Basil Habanero Salsa

Posted: 09 Sep 2011 05:07 PM PDT

This summer I have had a lot of success in experimenting with fruit and berry salsas like the chipotle cherry salsa and there was one more that I wanted to try, a blueberry salsa with habanero peppers. I had come across the idea of a blueberry salsa from the Kogi food truck and I really liked the sound of it. With weather starting to get a bit cooler I figured that it was the perfect time to try making it while the fresh local blueberries were still in season. Salas recipes seem to kind of write themselves these days; you start with the main ingredient, the blueberries, then add some heat, the habanero, then some onions and garlic and a touch of lime juice to keep things fresh. I also normally add a fresh herb and it is almost always cilantro but this time I wanted to go with some basil as I thought that it would work well with the blueberries. The final touch is to season with salt and pepper and I thought that I would go with an Asian twist and used soy sauce and ginger instead.

The blue berry salsa turned out to be another wildly successful berry salsa! All of the fresh flavours play amazingly well together and you could easily polish off a whole batch with a bag of tortilla chips handy. Of course I had to restrain myself from eating too much as I wanted to use the blueberry salsa in another dish!

Blueberry and Basil Habanero Salsa

A savoury blueberry salsa with the heat of habanero chillies and the summery freshness of basil.

Servings: makes 2 cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups blueberries
1 habanero, seeded (or to taste)
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, grated
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 handful basil
1/2 lime, juice
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

Puree everything in a food processor until smooth.
Simmer the salsa to remove excess liquid. (Optional: This salsa is great fresh but if you are going to use it in something like tacos you will want to simmer it a bit to remover the excess liquid.)