Cranberries: Use whole fresh cranberries without brown or soft spots.
Onion: Yellow onion has a nice, mild flavor that picks up the sugar, and the tang of lime juice beautifully while still keeping its crunch.
Red bell pepper: Red bell pepper adds subtle sweetness and crunch. (If you prefer, orange or yellow also works.)
Jalapeño: Either fresh or pickled jalapeño peppers work in this salsa.
Remember, individual peppers vary by spiciness. If you’re spice-averse, check the heat level of your pepper before adding it to the salsa. For a spicier salsa, add more.
Garlic: Use a small clove. Even though it’s going into the food processor, I like to mince it ahead of time to make sure it’s not in too big of chunks in the finished salsa.
Lime juice: For the optimum flavor, freshly squeezed is best.
Orange juice and zest: It’s much easier if you zest the orange before squeezing it for juice.
Sugar: I use organic evaporated cane juice.
Don’t try to make this cranberry salsa without sugar! Raw cranberries are mighty tart. Some sugar is required to balance them out.
Salt: Salt makes the flavors pop.
Cilantro: Look for fresh cilantro that is bright green, not slimy or blackened.
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