Ro-Tel Cucumber Salsa

I started this blog in May 2011 and my second blog post was for Refreshing Cucumber Salsa which is a fresh salsa I love!  Well, here is it winter, tomatoes are blah, what's a girl to do if she wants this fresh salsa now?  You turn to canned tomatoes, in this case, I used Ro-Tel tomatoes which are diced tomatoes with green chilies.  Who would of thought? It is excellent and with the added punch of the diced chilies M-m-m-m-m!  If you don't want the extra spice, you can use regular canned diced tomatoes.

Here is how to make Ro-Tel Cucumber Salsa:

Ingredients:
28 oz. can Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Chilies
15 oz. can Black Beans
15 oz. can whole kernel corn
Red onion
3 medium cucumbers (2 if using English cucumbers)
Cilantro
1-2 Jalapeno peppers
Uncle Dans Original Ranch Dressing Mix (makes 32 oz. pkg)
3 Tbsp. White Vinegar

In a very large bowl, place a couple paper towels.  Set aside.  Open can of tomatoes and drain very well in a fine colander.  Place drained tomatoes into paper towel lined bowl.  Open beans, rinse and drain and add to bowl.  Drain corn and add to bowl.  Cut 1/2 onion in a fine dice, add to bowl.  Peel cucumbers and slice in half, they need to be seeded by running a spoon down scraping out the seeded part and discard.  Dice cucumbers finely and add to bowl.  Seed jalapeno pepper(s) and dice very finely, add to bowl (start with one pepper and if you find you want it spicier after tasting, add more).  Take 1/4 of a bunch of cilantro leaves and dice finely, add to bowl.  Remove paper towel from bowl that has absorbed excess moisture and mix ingredients with a large mixing spoon.  Take the Uncle Dan's Dry Ranch Mix and sprinkle about half the package over the ingredients along with the vinegar and mix well to combine. 

You can eat as a salad or the way I prefer, to serve with Tostitos "Scoops" chips and really pile on the salsa on each chip.  This is a "fresh" salsa and will only keep for just a few days in the refrigerator.  People can't seem to get enough of this stuff at parties.

I think Uncle Dan's is a regional product but it can be ordered online if you do not have it in your area.  It is totally different than other dry ranch dressing mixes (i.e. Hidden Valley).  You can of course use another brand, but the flavor will be totally different.

Peel and seed cucumbers.  If using English cucumbers, no need to seed.

Cut cucumbers into thin strips.

Dice cucumber into a fine dice,

Dice onion into a fine dice.

Cut jalapeno pepper cap off and cut into half.  Remove the seeds and ribs by scraping out with a teaspoon.

Finely dice jalapeno pepper.

Take one quarter of a bunch of cilantro leaves and finely dice.

Sprinkle Uncle Dan's ranch dry mix into bowl (about 1/2 pkg.) and add vinegar.  Stir well.

There you have it, grab a chip and scoop up the yummy salsa!