By Beth Dooley, The Minnesota Star Tribune

Salsa is the Spanish word for sauce, but it does a whole lot more.

A good salsa will complement and catapult the most ordinary dish with sweet, tangy, fiery depth and zest. It’s a delicious way to dispatch a seasonal bounty of fresh herbs, veggies and fruit, and is great in just about anything, regardless of the culture or country of a particular dish. Fresh tomato salsa adds zing to panzanella; sweet corn salsa lifts chicken salad; roast pepper-tomato salsa sparks buttery sautéed shrimp.

Chiles are the star of any salsa, providing a stunning range of flavor and heat. The level of spiciness is really up to the salsa maker, so feel free to experiment and choose chiles you like.

Generally, the smaller the chile the hotter it will be. Green chile

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