Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde is one of my favorite condiments. Ever since my sister and brother-in-law showed me how to make it last year, I crave it all the time! Therefore, I decided to grow tomatillos in my garden this year to give me a fresh supply of them for making salsa verde. 

Over several weeks I accumulated enough to make a large batch. You can tell some of them are older than others by the faded wrappers. I kept them in the fridge for 3 weeks and they were fine. 

I heated up a skillet over medium high heat, unwrapped the tomatillos, and slowly roasted them. I used a tongs to turn them so they charred on all sides. 

You can tell that the top part of this tomatillo is done because it has turned a different color.

Here is a tomatillo that has finished cooking. A good way to tell if it is done is if it splits open to release all the yummy juices. This is charred tomatillo perfection! :)

As they are done cooking, transfer them to a heat proof bowl. I had so many that it took me three batches to cook them all. 

Then I chopped up 3 large Onions and did the same thing. I let them char on each side and used the tongs to flip when needed. 

Then I took a bunch of Garlic and some Chile de Arbol and charred those as well. The chilies cook really fast so don't put them in the pan and walk away. I think I only had those in the pan for 10 seconds per side. The garlic took about 3 minutes per side. 

I love how a lot of produce comes in it's own special packaging. 

Once everything was done cooking I added it all to the bowl along with one bunch of cilantro and some salt. 

Then I blended everything together and tasted to make sure it didn't need more chili or more salt.

For dinner that night I made thick corn tortillas and topped them with black beans, shredded carrots, sour cream and salsa verde. It was delicious!

Tips for Salsa Verde:

-Roasting in a skillet is the traditional way to make this condiment. However, my sister recently showed me a new trick by roasting everything in the oven until blackened on top. It worked just as well and was a lot easier than slaving over a hot stove top :). The only thing is you want to keep the tomatillos separate from the garlic, onion, and chilies. When the tomatillos are roasting they produce a lot of liquid in the pan and you don't want to steam cook the other veggies, but make sure you add the liquid to the bowl and don't dump it out because it has lots of good flavor.

-Cook all the chilies you think you will need at once, but add them one at a time as you are blending the salsa. You can always add more heat, but you can't take it away. 

-In my opinion this is best served warm. But you can try it warm and cold and see which way you like better

-If the salsa is too thick you can add some water to help it blend better.  

-I made a very large batch here. But the general ratio is 7-10 tomatillos, 1-2 onions, 4-5 cloves garlic, 1-2 chilies, 1/3-1/2 bunch of cilantro and salt to taste.