Fresh Salsa Verde

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Those that have been following the blog for awhile know that Mexican food is my favorite! I can't help it, I love those fresh flavors. Tomatoes and peppers and cilantro, oh my! And Mexican chip-dippers are one of my specialties. Salsa has been one of my favorite snacks since I was a kid. There were years where I snacked on chips and salsa every day. I'm not even kidding you. This lasted through college (there were classes all I could think about was salsa, but that's another issue entirely), and years after. Sometimes I take short breaks from salsa, but they never stick. Last summer, I ate guacamole almost every day from June until October. This summer however, I have a feeling it's going to be all about the Salsa Verde.

This is an extremely untraditional recipe for salsa verde, or tomatillo salsa. In fact, I found very few recipes for fresh salsa verde. The majority of salsa verde recipes are cooked. I've never really enjoyed traditional salsa cooked, so it got me wondering if that's why I've never been very fond of salsa verde. There's something about the crunch of the veggies and the crisp flavors of fresh salsa that make my world go round. 

It was time to experiment!

This fresh salsa verde is packed with green stuff. Fresh tomatillos. Fresh jalapeños. Fresh limes. Fresh cilantro. And yeah, garlic and salt aren't green, but you need those too! Also, you'll need onion, which somehow ended up MIA for the photo shoot. Whoops.

If you've never worked with tomatillos, I think you should. Today is a great day for it! If I can find them at my tiny, country-bumpkin grocery store, I suspect you can too. They look like little green tomatoes covered in a husk. The husk is peeled off, and I was shocked to find the tomatillos are sticky under the husk! Washing them post-peel is a must.  

I gave everything a rough chop and threw it in the food processor. A little bit of pulsing later-

And I had fresh salsa verde! 

I love the flavor! It tastes kind of like traditional salsa, but a little bit different. The hubby came home that evening, tried it, and proclaimed it "awesome". 

By the way, I got this little serving dish at TJ Maxx the other day. I couldn't resist using it for some photos. I love it! I'll definitely be serving something in it for my next party.

There you go! Fresh salsa verde. I highly recommend giving this recipe a go, especially if you are a Mexican-food lover like me. In fact, most of this salsa is going into the crock pot today with a couple of chicken breasts and some other seasonings for Chicken Tacos tonight. I'm really excited, plus margaritas will be on the menu! After all, it's not Cinco de Mayo with at least a little tequila! :-)

Have a great day everyone!

Recipe adapted from: The Chunky Chef

Ingredients (yields 2-3 cups):

8-9 tomatillos, peeled and roughly chopped

2 jalapeños, deseeded, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic

1 handful cilantro

1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

1. Combine tomatillos, jalapeño, garlic, cilantro, onion, lime juice, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until you achieve desired consistency. Add more salt to taste, if needed. Serve immediately. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. 

Printable Recipe

If you like this recipe, you may enjoy these-

Copycat El Torito Salsa

Fresh Guacamole

Jessica's Special Margaritas (which I will be making later today!!)