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Tomato and Pumpkin Seed Salsa

Posted by Mike Vrobel in Building blocks, Side dish, Sponsored | 2 comments

Tomato and Pumpkin Seed Salsa

This week, DadCooksDinner is sponsored by Food Should Taste Good Tortilla Chips. Why do I like having Food Should Taste Good as a sponsor? Because they know food tastes best when it’s made with real ingredients, and their Tortilla Chips are wholesome snacks that deliver on great taste, with real, simple ingredients. They are perfect for Cinco de Mayo entertaining. For more information, visit www.foodshouldtastegood.com.

Food Should Taste Good asked me for a Cinco de Mayo recipe to go with their Tortilla Chips; of course, salsa immediately jumped to mind. (Followed quickly by thoughts of frozen margaritas – see Tuesday’s recipe.)

Why pumpkin seeds in salsa? Pumpkin seeds, pipián or pepitas in Spanish, are a popular ingredient in Mexico. They add a meaty, roasted taste, and blending them with the tomatoes helps thicken up the salsa. This recipe is loosely based on sikil p’ak, Yucatan’s pumpkin-seed dip, but this recipe is a lot more tomato-heavy than you would find in the Yucatan. (And they would use habaneros instead of jalapenos. They love the heat in the Yucatan.)1

Pumpkin seeds used to be hard to find in my area, but now I see them in the bulk section of my local grocery stores. (If you’re having a hard time, check out your local health food store.) I buy the pumpkin seeds roasted and salted, because it makes this a quick pantry recipe; dump everything in the food processor and puree. If you can only find raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds, that’s fine – toast them in a skillet over medium heat until they are just browned in spots, then dump them in the food processor.

About those chips…
I came home to a big box of chips from Food Should Taste Good. That’s when the kids started circling. Normally, when I say “It’s for the blog”, they wander away. Now they won’t leave me alone. “Dad, can we eat the chips? When can we eat the chips? How about now, can we eat the chips?” Not until I get pictures! Back off you vultures! I go get my camera, and when I come back, one of them is going through the box. “I’m not eating them! I’m just checking what flavors you have.”

I made the salsa, took my pictures, and then unleashed the ravenous horde, with a last minute request: “Taste test – what’s your favorite chip?” Mine is the Blue Corn Tortilla Chip, because I’m a traditionalist – I like the big corn flavor, with a hint of sesame. The rest of my tasting panel voted for Lime, Multigrain, and (much to my surprise), two votes for Guacamole. Why the Guacamole Tortilla Chips? According to one voter: “Because they’re spicy. I like spicy.”

Recipe: Tomato and Pumpkin Seed Salsa

Inspired by La Parilla: The Mexican Grill by Reed Hearon

Equipment

Food processor or blender