No-Cook Cranberry Salsa
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Author Notes: I'd never thought about cranberry salsa as a compliment to my Thanksgiving menu until putting together the November issue of Working Mother magazine. One of the recipes in our featured cookbook, How to Cook a Turkey and All the Other Trimmings (Tauton Press 2007), was eye-opening for two main reasons: 1) uncooked cranberries when properly balanced with more than just a ton of sugar are bright in flavor and fun in texture and 2) it gains big points for not monopolizing an already busy stove top. I 86'd the pears to let the cranberries be the star and nixed the chilies too to keep it kid friendly. And what would salsa be without a splash of fresh lime juice? The real secret here, though, is agave nectar. Unlike honey which is more pungent tasting, agave nectar adds a creamy sweetness to temper the tart nature of cranberries. This dish only gets better with time, so plan on making it two days in advance. - Jennifer Perillo
Serves 1 quart
- 1 bag cranberries, picked over and rinsed
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- freshly squeezed juice of one orange
- freshly squeezed juice of one lime
- 1/4 cup agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Add cranberries to the workbowl of a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Combine with remaining ingredients in a large bowl and stir until well mixed. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Best served two days later, so this requires advance planning but the pay-off is a delicious no-cook condiment.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Cranberry Sauce
Tags: cranberries, Holidays, Thanksgiving
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over 3 years ago mrslarkin
Mrs. Larkin is a trusted source on Baking.
yum. you had me at cilantro. now i have something else to make with the bottle of agave nectar i recently bought and have sitting in the cupboard. thank you!
over 3 years ago Jennifer Perillo
Agave nectar is so wonderful. I use more than honey now. It's the perfect sweetener for iced teas, lemonades and I'd like to experiment with making a lime syrup for margaritas too. I also add a dash to my vinaigrette to balance the acidity.
over 3 years ago crispywaffle
I love how fresh this sounds! With all the soft comfort food, some crunch and tart would be perfect at Thanksgiving. Am definitely trying this one -- I'll bet it would go great with pork shoulder as well. Any substitutes if I can't find agave nectar here? (I can find clear sugar syrups here, as well as delicate honey, but have not seen agave.)
over 3 years ago Jennifer Perillo
Honey is a fine substitute for agave nectar, though you will notice a difference in taste. Hope you enjoy it too!
over 3 years ago eawnyc
Having never made a Thanksgiving before (this year (and as a non meateater) this sounds like the perfect recipe to add to the table . How many chiles?
over 3 years ago Jennifer Perillo
When it comes to chilies, I always say go with what you like it. Cranberries are pretty hardy and can stand up to the spice.
over 3 years ago Food Blogga
I love the idea of fresh cranberries! This would be delicious on grilled shrimp too.
over 3 years ago Jennifer Perillo
Definitely!
over 3 years ago Creative Culinary
Beautiful; just started using agave nectar for sweetener (OK, for margaritas!) and do love the difference it makes so will have to try this. I might have to add chiles though; my worrying about kid friendly recipes are not a priority right now as I'm between empty nest and grandparent stage!
over 3 years ago Jennifer Perillo
Agree on the chilies, and next time, I'll probably divide the batch and add chilies to half of it.
over 3 years ago lastnightsdinner
This looks fabulous - love the chunky texture!