Hi everyone! I know its been a long time since I posted – our lives have been very busy but I will fill you in on that later. Right now I am so excited to share an easy salsa recipe with you. Our daughter Katy is an excellent cook and she taught me how to make salsa verde in my own kitchen. Easy doesn’t mean plain – no way – this salsa will tickle your taste buds. I have yet to find a store bought salsa that is salt, sugar and oil free. Look no more – you can actually make this in a short amount of time and you will never want store bought salsa again. If you have a Mexican market nearby I encourage you to seek it out and buy some really fresh tomatillos for this recipe. The turnover on tomatillos at the Mexican grocery store will most likely be better than at your regular grocery store and the price might be much lower as well.
This is hubby Tom at the Mexican market with me. Just look at all these tomatillos also known as the Mexican husk tomato.
Peel off the husk and place in a colander to rub and rinse off the sticky coating.
Cut the tomatillos in half and place on a baking sheet along with some fresh garlic cloves and Serrano peppers. Broil until lightly browned. Flip them over and broil the other side.
This is how they look when removed from the broiler. Remove the garlic from the peels, cut the ends off the peppers. The sauce gets thicker as it sits. Delicious as a salsa for all of your favorite Mexican – Southwest recipes or perhaps you will choose to use it for some vegan enchiladas smothered in salsa verde!
Place the tomatillos along with all the juices, garlic cloves and peppers into a food processor or blender along with water and process.
If your onion is really strong try rinsing it under cold water – it will help to wash away some of that strong onion juice. The onions I have been getting lately have been so strong and this trick works well. Add chopped onion, cilantro (and salt if using) to the food processor and process until you have the desired consistency.
This is truly the best salsa verde I have ever had! Thank you Katy for teaching me how to make this insanely delicious salsa. Make half a batch if you simple need salsa for a topping with your favorite vegan recipes. If you want to make enchiladas with salsa verde make the full recipe to ensure you have enough to cover the enchiladas and have salsa leftover to pass at the table. If you like to give food gifts keep this recipe in mind – your friends and family will love you for it. Savory gifts are always well received!
Easy Salsa Verde
Equipment
- Broiler, food processor or mixer
Ingredients
- 2 pounds tomatillos – husks removed washed and rinsed
- 6 garlic cloves or more to taste – not peeled
- 1-2 serrano chiles washed
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 medium onion diced – rinsed with cool water
- 1/2 -3/4 cup fresh cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon salt – if using – its not needed
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos, wash well and rinse, cut in half, place on a rimmed baking pan that is broiler safe. To that pan add the garlic cloves with the skins left on and the washed serrano chiles.
- Broil for 4 minutes or until lightly browned, turn everything over and broil another 4 minutes.
- Cut ends off the serrano chiles and remove the garlic from the skins.
- Place the tomatillos along with all the juices into a blender or food processor along with the garlic cloves and 1 or 2 chiles along with the seeds or not depending on how hot the chiles are and how much heat you want the salsa to have, add the water and process – add the onion, cilantro and salt and pepper if using, process until desired consistency is achieved. If its too thick add a little more water. It does thicken as it cools but becomes more loose as it warms up.
Serving ideas:
Lentil Tacos topped off with salsa verde. If you don’t use corn tortillas try romaine lettuce taco cups.
Chef AJ’s Portabella Mushroom Chili – ladle into your bowl and top with a spoonful of salsa verde.
Use as enchilada sauce for vegan enchiladas made with chunks of cooked potatoes and beans.
Sub for the store bought salsa in my Chipotle Burrito Bowl.
Nourish Bowl with rice, beans, greens and topped off with salsa verde.
Mexican Stuffed Potato, and Donna’s Vegan Cheeze Sauce. Or combine with my Chiptole Nacho Cheeze Sauce which is on my Mexican Chopped Salad post.
Its the perfect topping for my Black Beans – Slow Cooker. O
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I’m glad to see you back! I’ve never experimented with tomatillos and am excited to try!
Thank you Mary Ellen! Its good to be back. Please come back and let me know what you think of the salsa.
Wow that sounds so good. Can’t wait to try it. My husband loves t he green stuff.
HI Sherry – thank you for stopping by the blog. I love the green stuff too!
Tami, I would love to see a post on your tips for making recipes compliant. For example, today I saw you post in a comment thread that you were going to try a certain recipe but with white beans instead of cashews. So, stuff like that.
Thank you Eve – I will put this on my list for a future post!
My family has been primarily WFPB for much of the last year. I already batch cook and freeze rice, quinoa, several kinds of beans. I just have trouble making them into new dishes. Mostly it’s beans and rice and hummus. I would love suggestions on how to cook one day and see how to put it together into different meals. The salsa verde looks beautiful. Ideas for sauces and for flavoring dishes would also be appreciated.
Hi Kathy,
Thank you for the blog post ideas – those would be great topics! I will be working on those in the near future.
Happy Cooking,
Tami
Hi Tami,
Your blog is so well done & the photo’s are beautiful! I’ve never tried tomatillos before & look forward to trying your salsa out. I think you are correct in letting your food journey speak for itself by letting the old recipes remain, for now. Most of us are on the same path of SAD to WFPB. Perhaps a permanent sentence or two on your page could explain your way of eating today. So glad you have returned!
Hi Karen,
Thank you so much for your support in “letting your food journey speak for itself” I appreciate your understanding in this matter. I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.
Happy Healthy Cooking,
Tami
HUGE HUGS on all the health stuff Tami! I hope you find relief!!!! I hope hubby is OK too! How are the feet?
So exciting on the grandchild too! I just announced on the blog today that #9 is headed our way in NOvember!!!!
Hang in there!!!
Hi Jody!
My feet are doing pretty good these days, it’s sciatic pain that is getting me down – it’s been 6 months of pain for me! This too shall pass right?
Congratulations on your 9th grandchild! That is so exciting!
Blessings,
Tami
Tami, glad to see that you are feeling better. Wow, busy life and long haul getting back to regular activities again! Wonderful that you are following the WFPB lifestyle to reduce inflammation after the surgery.
Congrats on becoming a Grandma! Sounds like a great “job” to have. Enjoy!!
Hugs,
Karen
Hi, Tami! Congrats on your grandbaby. Hope you are feeling better. I’ve pretty much been out of the blog world for years now but like to check back periodically on my old blog friends:)
I was thinking of you because I keep inching closer to trying a plant-based diet. DH has been vegetarian for maybe 3 years now. He’s convinced it cured his asthma.
I seem to remember a post you did years ago about your favorite salad dressing recipes. Yes? If so, would you send me the link. If not, would love to have you blog about that.
Best,
Karen
Hi Karen,
It’s so nice to hear from you! I miss your blog and your writing. Are you still working in the retail store? I do remember that your hubby went plant based. My hubby is on board now too and we love it. We loved the Joel Fuhrman dressing that I posted about you can find it here http://nutmegnotebook.com/2013/06/dijon-date-dressing-dip/ -I make a version of it now without the nuts and will try to get it posted soon. That is a great idea for a future post! Wendy at Healthy Girls Kitchen has an awesome list of no oil plant based salad dressings you can see it here https://sites.google.com/site/hgkprintablerecipes/big-list-of-no-oil-salad-dressings
I can tell you that so many people I have met that have gone to a whole food plant based diet have had incredible health improvements- with heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, migraines and so on.
I enjoyed hearing from you and hope you will stop by here again!
Blessings,
Tami
Thanks! I’ll check those out. Still working part-time retail but have switched stores to a competitor who opened up near me.
Good for you Karen!
I make this salsa too. I think I got the recipe from Rick Bayless. I always find good salsa recipes from him.
You should look for a chiropractor who also does acupuncture for your sciatica. I first went to one a couple years ago when I fell on my face in my house. I had walked Kiwi, and then fell asleep in my chair. When I woke up, I had pain in my hip that was so bad I fainted when I stood up! The chiropractor fixed my hip/leg in a couple weeks. Then I had her fix my shoulders too.
Leslie that must have been frightening when you fell like that. I was having some very severe pain in my hip when all of this sciatic flare up first started. I have been to acupuncture twice, been in physical therapy for over 2 months and under the care of a spine specialist as I also have scoliosis. PT is helping strengthen my back as I am crooked which also causes some additional pain all of its own. The spine specialist is sending me to a pain specialist as PT has taken me as far as they can. I have never been to a chiropractor but I know many people who swear by them. Thanks for sharing your story – its good to know you got past the pain!