If you visit Logos during the annual salsa cook-off, you will find it difficult to believe that Americans were once afraid to eat tomatoes. But it’s true. During the Colonial era there was an erroneous belief that eating tomatoes would raise your blood acidity to dangerous levels. Luckily that’s changed. Now the average American eats more than 22 pounds of tomatoes every year. With the annual salsa cook-off at Logos, we are trying to bring that average up.

This year saw a handful of entries in both the mild and hot salsa categories, and the winners (listed below) brought their “A” game.

Matt Rudder, Tony Segar, Eric Olsen

In the mild category:

• First place: Matt Rudder
• Second place: Tony Segar
• Third place: Eric Olson

Jana Gering, Ryan Riley, Robert Campbell

In the hot category:

• First place: Jana Gering
• Second place: Ryan Riley
• Third place: Robert Campbell

As you can see in the video below, these regular Logos cook-offs are serious business! In fact, it is this sort of atmosphere that helps us get nominated as one of Washington State’s Best Workplaces (for the second year in a row)!

Check out this video and—if you are so inclined—why not check out the Logos career page and see how you might fit into the Logos family? And remember, if you have a good salsa recipe it wouldn’t hurt to put that on your resume.

Jana Gering’s Winning Salsa Verde Recipe

• 3–4 lbs of Tomatillos, husked and washed (on the large ones, cut out the stem as you would for a tomato)
• 4 Small Sweet White Onions (I used Hawaiian sweets), roughly chopped. (If the onions smell hot, slice them into rings first and soak them in a bowl of ice water for 20 minutes or so before chopping. This removes a bit of the sting and odor.)
• 4 Anaheim Peppers
• 3 Jalapeno Peppers
• 8 Habanero Peppers
• 3 Yellow Chile Peppers
• 8-10 Cloves Garlic (roughly chopped)
• 5 Small Limes, juiced
• 12 Mini Hass Avocados, or six regular-size Hass Avocados.
• 2 Bunches Cilantro (stemmed and roughly chopped)
• 1 Tablespoon Salt, or to taste (I used specialty smoked black sea salt, but regular sea salt is good, too)
• 2 tsp white pepper

1. Place tomatillos on a cookie tray or two. Cut the largest ones in half, the rest can be lined up whole. Place in the bottom rack with the oven on broil. Roast until the skins are blackened or browned on top and the juice of the tomatillos has cooked out (about 5-10 minutes)
2. Place all the peppers on a cookie sheet, and place on the lower rack of the oven on broil. Roast for 5 mins (or until the skins are blackened) then turn and roast the other side.
3. USE GLOVES to retrieve the peppers and place them in a brown paper bag to cool (this will make the skins easier to peel.) For the tomatillos, let them cool on the cookie sheets, then remove only the charred parts of the skin and the tough stem pieces. You do not need to use the juice that has cooked out, just throw the main part of each tomatillo into the food processor.
4. Place the chopped onions and the chopped garlic cloves in the food processor (you may need to do this in batches), and pulse until finely chopped. Add the tomatillos, the lime juice, and most of the cilantro (reserving some for garnish) and pulse until blended.
5. Remove the peppers from the paper bag, and wearing gloves, peel the loosened skin off as much as you can, then slice open the peppers and scrape out as many of the seeds as you can. Slice the roasted peppers into smaller chunks, and add to the food processor. Add the salt and white pepper, and pulse until blended.
6. Refrigerate the salsa overnight or for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend.
7. Just before serving, chop the avocados and the remaining cilantro and stir into the salsa.

Do you have a tip for great salsa? Leave us a comment and tell us what it is.