Tomatillo Salsa
Considering how much I enjoy Mexican food, it is somewhat amusing to me now that I never actually ate any until after I was 30. Up to that point, I had never had guacamole or salsa, eaten a taco, burrito, enchilada, quesadilla or nachos. Mexican food was figuratively and literally foreign to my Sicilian mother, so she never cooked it or, for that matter, brought home so much as an avocado from the supermarket. Consequently, I never had Mexican food at home—and the lack thereof just wasn’t something I thought about.
One day a co-worker brought in some homemade guacamole, and I was more than hooked. It was A-OK in my book! Shortly thereafter, a bunch of us went out for lunch to a Chi-Chi’s Mexican restaurant in the area. I looked at all the, to me, new and exciting dishes on the menu and was hard-pressed to choose. I finally decided on a taco salad which came served in a large taco shell. I thoroughly enjoyed my taco salad, and that was the start of my love affair with cilantro which I find simply addictive.
Despite having finally taken the plunge into making and enjoying Mexican food, it was still several years before I discovered tomatillos. I found out that I really liked the little tomato-like fruit with their papery skins, especially in a fresh salsa. I make my tomatillo salsa the same way I make my fresh tomato salsa—just swapping the tomatoes for the tomatillos. It’s delightful to accompany most any Mexican dish you can make, and it’s a delicious salsa appetizer with tortilla chips. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Tomatillo Salsa
- 2 lbs. tomatillos, husks removed and chopped into very small pieces
- 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and minced (leave seeds in if you prefer hotter)
- 1/2 cup minced red onion
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- pinch ground black pepper
- 1 to 2 tbl. fresh lime juice
- Sugar to taste, approx. 1 tsp.
- 1/4 cup or more chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
Place chopped tomatillos in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix. I usually add just one tablespoon of the lime juice at first and taste to see if it needs the second tablespoon.
Source: A frantastic original