Honey Recipes Recipes

Honey Hibiscus Salsa

hibiscus salsa
Written by Cricket

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This Honey Hibiscus Salsa recipe is one that I created quite a while ago, but I had orginally used sugar before I knew any better. Now, of course I used raw honey from my own bees. I know it sounds odd to use honey or sugar in a salsa recipe, but it works here. It SO works!!

Hibiscus salsa is not really a typical recipe you can find just anywhere. We are so lucky in Arizona to be able to grow this tropical plant and have access to all its yummy tartness. Hibiscus Sabdariffa grows through the hottest of summers here and is one plant I recommend to anyone. Grow it even if all you have is a pot. Use its leaves during the summer in recipes like this and then enjoy the fruit left over from the flowers in September and October. With the addition of LOCAL RAW HONEY, you’ve got a unique dish with plenty of local flavor.

Flavor and Health

I currently have an exchange student from Thailand with me and unfortunately for him, American food lacks the robust range of flavors he is used to. In Thai cooking there is the goal of having a beautiful balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy. That is a great mindset to have when cooking any kind of cuisine I think.

This salsa recipe does a great job of using all of those flavor profiles. I love using Hibiscus calyces because they have an intense sour quality that enhances other flavors. With the exchange of honey for the sugar, it makes this a particularly healthy treat too. Everything in this salsa is good for you, but since I’m talking about Hibiscus here, check out what it alone can do for you according to academia.edu:

  • helps reduce blood pressure
  • lowers bad cholesterol levels in the blood
  • has anti diabetic properties
  • treats leukemia, liver damage, and hypertension
  • helps reduce deposits of calcium oxalate crystal on kidneys
  • anti cancer
  • defends against liver disease
  • anti inflammatory
  • and much more

Here is How to Make it

hibiscus salsa

Honey Hibiscus Salsa

Course Appetizer

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups hibiscus calyces
  • 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
  • 1/4 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 large red pepper, roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup local raw honey
  • 1/3 cup natural applesauce
  • 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions
 

  • 1. Remove all the calyces from the hibiscus seed pods. They are easy to pull off.
  • 2. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined but not pureed.
  • 3. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to give the flavors a chance to meld. It can be made and refrigerated for up to a week.
  • 4. Serve with tortilla chips or jicama slices.
Keyword hibiscus, honey

About the author

Cricket

Welcome to my blog! I’m Cricket (yes, my parents named me that!) and I’m a natural homesteader. Growing up in rural Idaho with a garden, a horse, and lots of canned food, I like to bring those sensibilities to my suburban home in Phoenix, Arizona. Add a little dose of cottage garden flavor and permaculture tendencies, and you’ll see why GardenVariety.Life is a reflection of everything I do.

I truly enjoy sharing the skills that promote a meaningful and practical connection to our gardens and environment. Because so many residents of the metro phoenix area are transplants, I find that the area’s unique desert climate is often misunderstood and underestimated in terms of what is possible. That’s where the fun begins. Arizona is a burgeoning permaculture haven with homesteading written all over it, and there is nothing I enjoy more than encouraging others to jump in and give it a try.

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