Monday, August 30, 2010

Red, Green or Christmas... Salsa

In New Mexico, when you order a meal they always ask, "Red, green, or Christmas?" They are asking about the type of chilies you would like. Would you like red, green or both (Christmas)? Tonight we had a bunch of tomatillos and several tomatoes that needed to be eaten pronto. We went on a little salsa making spree and made both red and green varieties.

I looked up several tomatillo salsa or salsa verde recipes and averaged them together to create a recipe we used tonight. I made one major change: I cooked the tomatillos in a cast iron skillet instead of oven roasting them as the recipes suggested. This hot weather friendly technique worked out well. We made our tomato salsa from a recipe we have used many times before.


Here is the finished product:



Of course red and green salsa is not enough for a meal, so we prepared several other veggies that needed to be eaten up too. My husband sauteed some onions, peppers and fennel. The fennel was strangely spicy. As he started cooking it, it made us start coughing the way hot peppers would. I'm back to not liking fennel. I had to pick it out of my veggies because it was making my tongue burn. The time I liked Parmesan fennel must have been a fluke.

My husband also cooked up some rainbow chard with garlic, and I prepared some black beans and local grass-fed steak. The steak was delicious - tender with lots of flavor! We both decided to have Christmas salsa. After the photo, we pretty much put the salsas on everything because they were so good!



Tomatillo Salsa or Salsa Verde
8 small tomatillos, quartered
1 clove of garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 lime juice
1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, roughly chopped
1 thick slice of onion
1/2 bunch of cilantro, stems removed
1/4 t salt (or to taste)
oil

Heat a cast iron skillet and coat the bottom with oil. Add the tomatillos and cook until softened. Remove from the pan and add to the food processor or blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving to let the flavors meld.

This post is part of Two for Tuesdays at A Moderate Life blog.

11 comments:

Silvia said...

lovely salsa! I used those tomatillos once, but did not like the results! your salsa looks delightful!

Joyti said...

Haha, the "christmas" concept is so cute.
Most places I've been seem to offer 'salsa bars' now, here in CA.

tigerfish said...

I have not tried such salsas! Well, I know....so much more to venture for me, definitely.

Unknown said...

My husband and I love to make homemade salsa! For the salsa verde we use the meathod you did here, cook the tomatillos in a cast iron skillet, garlic, etc too - YUM! I've never heard of the "Christmas" thing but now I know! Your meal looks awesome, my favorite kind of food!

Amy of Sing For Your Supper said...

Wow, I've never heard that before! How cool!! This all looks SO good!! I love the "Christmas" thing!!

Carolyn said...

I adore tomatillos! Thanks for posting a salsa recipe for them, I've been looking for a good one.

a moderate life said...

Oh my goodness! Do I want red? Yes, Green? YES, Rainbow chard with christmas salsa and steak? YEEESSS! this is one of those amazing meals that I totally need to eat right now! I can be to your house in about an hour...what is the address? lol Seriously, You moved me with this meal and I will share it on the two for tuesday recipe blog hop highlights on my thoughts on friday link love post, so please stop by and say hello! Alex@amoderatelife

a moderate life said...

Also, I am starting a new feature on my thoughts on friday called rolling with my bloggys and I am going to be sharing someone from your blog roll, come check it out to see who on friday! :) Alex@amoderatelife

Heather S-G said...

I totally remembering reading about the red, green, or christmas thing in a magazine...book?...some time ago. I'd totally go christmas! Gorgeous meal! Thanks for sharing it w/ t4t this week.

Christy said...

grr, I keep losing my comment - my computer is being wonky - anyhow, I choose Christmas please! Thanks for linking this to Two for Tuesdays!

Hunger and Thirst said...

That's odd, I wonder why the fennel would be hot. Do you think the plants were stressed somehow? Has it been really hot there recently. I'm curious.

I'm such a fan of tomatillos, love your salsa idea, thanks for sharing with Two for Tuesday this week.

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...