Green Tomato Relish

It is spring and I'm putting out tomato plants. I like the tasty small ones, clusters or grapes, to just pop in my mouth while I'm working outside - when they are ripe. Last year they just kept producing, right up until frost. We didn't take a vacation, so there wasn't a time when they went without water, rewarding us a lot just before our first fall freeze.

I remembered a church lady's marvelous green tomato relish, but I needed one without sugar. We've moved away from processed sugar due to auto-immune disease responding to it with inflammation. After a good deal of searching, I located this recipe and it worked beautifully. I did not use the immersion blender (there is a long story behind that!), but the bite-sized pieces worked perfectly.

Oh, I ought to mention that the original called for jalapenos - and I've included below - but I did not add them or any additional peppers. Purely personal preferences. Sugar not necessary at all!

Produce:

4 lbs Green tomatoes
1 lb Apples (I used Gala)
2 lbs Onions, white or yellow (I used Texas 1015 for their sweetness)
1 1/2 lbs Red bell peppers
12 cloves Garlic
8 Jalapenos (definitely optional!! May omit or substitute green chilies or green bell peppers for color/taste)

Spices:

2 cups Apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp Salt
4 tbsp Cilantro
2 tsp Cumin

Instructions:

1. Since I used small and grape tomatoes, all I had to do was remove any stems and cut in half. If using full sized tomatoes, just rough chop into half or one inch pieces.  Place in an appropriately size pot for the total ingredients.
2. Peel and roughly chop onions, about the same size as the tomato pieces. Add to pot. Remove and discard core from apples and bell peppers, roughly chop about the same size, and add to pot. Mince the garlic, and add to the same pot.
3. Add apple cider vinegar and salt to the pot and set on high heat until vinegar boils, then turn down to low and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. It should not be necessary to add any more vinegar or water.
4. If you want to use hot peppers, chop them while the pot is simmering. After an hour of cooking, add them and the cilantro and cumin to the pot. Feel free to omit the hot peppers – these are good without heat! Simmer for another five minutes.
5. Now you have a choice – you may leave these just as they are, with the pieces identifiable, or you can use a potato masher or immersion blender to dice smaller (please don’t puree. Well, if you really want to – it’s your recipe now.)
6. You may wish to freeze – just divvy it up into freezer containers and place in freezer when cool. You could save them in glass jars – canning is up to you. You can freeze in jars, but leave room for expansion.