Salsa of Love

This time of year, when chiles and tomatoes are abundant and ripe, I make a salsa that I call, "Salsa of Love," because I'll make it for love, but not for money. Here's how it's made:

Crank the oven to 400 degrees, or if you're oven runs cool, crank it higher than that. Use a couple of pounds of very ripe tomatoes, and almost as many chiles. Use plenty of mild chiles, like Anaheims and Poblanos, and also hot ones, if you like it hot. It only takes a couple of hot ones to make it all pretty hot, and the mild ones have lots of great flavor too. Rub the chiles with a little bit of olive oil, and roast everything for 45 minutes to an hour, until the skins start to peel off the tomatoes and the chiles get brown and droopy. Don't cook the chiles long enough for them to get crispy.

When the veggies are cool enough to handle, chop a bunch of cilantro in your cuisinart, then remove the stems from the chiles and process them as well. Cut the cores out of the tomatoes and toss the tomatoes into the mix. Do it in a couple of batches if it starts to get sloppy.

When everything is fully whizzed, add salt and red wine vinegar to taste.

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