Some Green Sauce #AbramsDinnerParty

So, I was browsing through my most recent acquisition from #AbramsDinnerParty (where I get free cookbooks) and I ran across a recipe for a green sauce that's supposed to be much like That Green Sauce sold by the HEB food stores.

Wait, let me back up a bit.

The cookbook is The Austin Cookbook by Paula Forbes. It's all about recipes "from deep in the heart of Texas," so of course I expected a lot of beef, and some Tex-Mex. But when I saw that sauce recipe ... I kind of swooned.

You see, a while back, someone sent me a jar of That Green Sauce, and I put it on everything until the jar was empty. And then I kind of whimpered because that sauce isn't available here. Waaaah!

So I was pretty excited to see that recipe. And I was stunned to see how easy it is. Apparently this type of sauce is pretty popular around Austin, and the one sold by HEB is just one of many versions of that type of green sauce. But ... the HEB version was the first one of its kind that I tried, so it's the one that I wanted to find a recipe for.

Now that I've made it, I have a feeling I'll be making it again.

With variations. Many variations. Because now that I know how it's made, I can adjust the heat, add spices or herbs, and just generally mess around with the recipe. I might even order some of That Green Sauce so I can do some taste tests and see how close I can get to the original.

And now you can make it, too!

The Green Sauce
Adapted from The Austin Cookbook by Paula Forbes

Store-bought green salsa or Salsa Macha Verde (recipe follows)
Vegetable oil
Yeah, that's it. Just two ingredients.

Puree the salsa in a food processor or blender until it's almost completely smooth, then start slowly drizzling vegetable oil into the salsa while the processor is running.

You'll add about one cup of oil for the Salsa Macha Verde, which made just about a pint of salsa.

Continue adding the oil until you have a creamy but runny sauce - it should not be as thick as mayonnaise. And it will thicken just a little when you refrigerate it. Not a lot, but a little.

And there ya go. The oil makes the sauce creamy, which is why a lot of people think it has avocado in it.

Needless to say, the sauce will taste like your salsa, except creamier and perhaps a little milder.

Salsa Macha Verde
Adapted from The Austin Cookbook by Paula Forbes

6 large jalapenos
2 garlic cloves
Salt
Juice of 1 large lime

Grill, roast, or toast the jalapenos until you have grill marks or they've acquired some black spots (I used a roti grill). Remove the stems and put the jalapenos in a food processor or blender.

Add the garlic, a couple pinches of salt, 1 tablespoon of water, and the lime juice. Process or blend until it's as smooth as you like.

Now just carry on to make THE GREEN SAUCE.

Note: Since I used my Vitamix blender, the jalapeno seeds were blended to smithereens ... and this also helped to make the sauce rather spicy. If you prefer a less spicy version, remove the seeds - some or all - along with the inside ribs. This will help to make the sauce less spicy.

Another recipe that I thought was interesting - and that wasn't at all Tex-Mex - was the mustard and brown sugar crusted steak that was first cooked, then rubbed with a butter and mustard mixture, and then sprinkled with brown sugar, and then broiled to get the sugar caramelized. I've never had a steak quite like it. And then I made another one just like it the next day.

I'll just leave this here for you.

In case my statement at the top wasn't totally clear, I got this cookbook for free from the publisher.

Yum

Retro Recipe Redo - Impossible Turkey Taco Pie

Way back when, there were a whole bunch of recipes for what were called Impossible Pies. They were magical recipes that made their own "crust" as they baked. And they all used Bisquick to make that magical crust.

I was browsing through some old newspaper and magazine clippings I had saved and scanned, and I found a recipe for Impossible Taco Pie. I had made that recipe many times back in the day, and I really liked it. I decided to make it again, to see if I still liked it.

But of course I made some changes.

I used turkey instead of beef, and I have to say that I doubt anyone could tell the difference in this recipe. Which is a good thing.

I didn't have any Bisquick in the house the first time I made this, but there are a lot of "make your own Bisquick" recipes online, so I figured I could do that rather than run to the store.

Nope. It didn't work. Not at all. I made it with Bisquick, and it was perfect. So, although that "make your own" recipe is probably a fine substitution for some recipes, it didn't work for this one. Maybe if I fiddled around with it some more, I could work it out, but that doesn't seem like a good use of my time.

Or my ingredients.

So now I have Bisquick. So it's a pretty sure bet I'll be making this again. Or maybe some other version of it. Because, seriously, this is comfort food, in the best possible way.

Panela cheese is interesting. It's a fresh cheese with a mild flavor. It softens when warm, but it doesn't really melt. So you'll end up with soft pockets of cheese in the pie, but they won't melt and get disappear into the pie.

Impossible Turkey Taco Pie

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
1 pound ground turkey
2 tablespoons chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 fire-roasted red pepper, diced
4 ounces panela cheese, cut in small cubes
3/4 cup Bisquick
1 1/4 cup milk
3 eggs
1 4-ounce can diced Hatch chiles
4 ounces shredded provolone cheese
Diced tomatoes (as needed for garnish)
Diced avocado (as needed for garnish)
Green salsa (for garnish)

Green Salsa

8 medium tomatillos
1 small green pepper, cored and seeded
1 serrano pepper, cored and seeded
1 small bunch cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
2 teaspoons lime juice (or to taste)

Heat your oven to 400 degrees and have a 9-inch pie plate standing by.

To make the taco pie:
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add the onion, turkey, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt. Cook, stirring as needed, until the turkey and onion is cooked through. Take it off the heat and add the roasted red pepper and the panela cheese.

Add the meat mixture to the pie plate and level it.

Mix the Bisquick, milk, and eggs in a medium bowl. Pour over the meat in the pan. Sprinkle the chiles on top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle the provolone cheese on top and return the pie to the oven. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean.

Let the pie rest for 5-10 minutes for easier slicing.

Garnish with chopped tomatoes, avocados, green salsa

To make the salsa:
Put all the ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth.

Yum

Watermelon and Peach Salsa

Oh my gosh, this salsa is good. You need to try it!

This started as a what-if, and I have to admit that I was a little bit skeptical of my own idea. I've made fruit salsas before, usually with mango or peach. But ... watermelon?

It totally worked.

Not only did it work but it was oh-my-gosh amazing.

The interesting thing was that as the mixture sat, it exuded a bit of liquid and the watermelon seemed to get a little denser, in a very good way.

I just can't say enough about how ridiculously good this is.

I made a pretty small batch because there are only two of us, but this could easily be doubled or tripled or quadrupled for a party.

And of course, adjust the heat to your liking. If you want to add more heat right off the bat, leave the seeds and ribs in the jalapeno. Or just add the other half of the pepper.

Watermelon Peach Salsa

1 tablespoon finely diced onion
1/2 jalapeno cored, seeded, and finely diced
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cubed watermelon (about 1/4-inch pieces)
1 peach, peeled, pitted, and cut in bits about the same size as the watermelon
1/4 of a red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut a little smaller than the watermelon

Put the onion, jalapeno, lime juice, and salt in a small bowl while you prep the rest. The lime helps mute the sharpness of the onion and at the same time it picks up some of the heat of the jalapeno so it can mingle better with the fruits.

Add the watermelon, peach and bell pepper (I used red, but yellow or orange would look nice as well).

Stir to combine.

You can certainly serve this right away, but I think it improves with a little time to rest and let the flavors mingle - at least an hour, if possible.

The fruit exudes quite a bit of juice, so you can drain some of it before serving - but don't get rid of all of it, since there's a lot of flavor in that juice.

Yum

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatoes are one of the things that I look forward to every summer - the winter ones just aren't that good. But tomatillos are also very much a summer fruit. It's not that they're not as tasty in winter - it's that they're hard to find.

Tomatillos can be used raw or cooked, just like tomatoes, but my favorite way to use them is in raw salsas, to take advantage of the wonderful fresh flavor and the lively green color. They also make a great cooked sauce for tacos or enchiladas.

This fresh sauce is great with chips, but I also like it with eggs. Or on tacos. Or on cooked meats. I might even have used is to add some flavor to some cottage cheese. But I'm not sure I really want to admit that.

Speaking of cheese, though, a little smear of cream cheese on a cracker, topped with a bit of salsa, would be a great appetizer or snack.

The easy way to make this salsa is in a food processor or blender, pulsing to chop the vegetables finely and evenly, without making it too smooth. Well, unless you want a smooth salsa. I don't judge. You can also dice it all with your favorite knife.

Tomatillo Salsa
Makes about 1 quart

5 large tomatillos (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1 medium onion, peeled
1 small purple* bell pepper
1/4 cup pickled** sliced jalapeno peppers
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Juice of one lime
Several generous grinds of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of Garlic Gold*** or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Kernels from 1 ear cooked corn

Cut the tomatillos, onion, and bell pepper into chunks and add them to your food processor or blender along with the jalapenos, salt, lime juice, pepper, and garlic gold.

Pulse until you have small pieces. Add the corn and pulse a few more times.

Taste and adjust seasonings, if desired.

Transfer to a storage container. This can be used immediately, but I like it better after it has had  a little time to rest and for the flavors to mingle.

* I used a purple bell pepper because I wanted to add an unusual color to the salsa, but any color will do. If you don't have a fresh bell pepper lurking around, you could also use a few pieces of jarred, fire-roasted red pepper.

** You can use fresh jalapeno, if you like. Two will be fine. Leave the seeds in if you want the salsa spicier, or take the seeds out if you want a milder salsa.

*** You can find Garlic Gold with the rest of the dried spices or online. It's dried crunchy granules that are milder and less harsh than garlic powder.

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Egg-in-a-Heart - perfect for Valentine's Day Breakfast

Can I be honest here for a second?

The truth is that my husband and I don't get all hearts-and-flowers for Valentine's Day. Oh, we'll probably exchange silly cards. But no one's going to go out and buy a pink teddy bear stuffed with chocolates, or anything like that.

Because when you've been married since dinosaurs roamed the earth, you don't really need some marketing company to tell you that it's time to be all smoochy.

On the other hand, I might serve something silly, romantic, or sort of funny on a normal, average, random day.

It's like that around here.

So while this might be something you'd make for Valentine's Day, it's just as likely that we ate this last Tuesday afternoon, for no reason at all. Okay, maybe because I was recipe testing. But still...

The recipe starts off with corn tortillas. You can get all rustic and make your own, but you can buy decent corn tortillas these days, and you might even have locally-made tortillas nearby. By the way, I tried this with flour tortillas, and the corn ones worked out much better. And, many corn tortillas are gluten-free, so that's a plus.

Once you've secured a supply of corn tortillas, you need a large heart-shaped cookie cutter or heart-shaped biscuit cutter. In a pinch, I guess you could free-form cut hearts out of the tortillas with a knife, but at this time of year, you'll probably find the cutters you need at the grocery store, in the aisle that's decorated in pink and red.

Choose a pan to fry the tortillas to crisp them. Choose carefully, because it determines how much oil you'll use. You only need about 1/4 inch of oil in the bottom of the pan, so a larger pan will use more oil.

On the other hand, a very large pan will allow you to fry more tortillas at once. So here's the deal. If you can't fit three tortillas in the pan without overlapping, you might as well use a smaller pan and fry them one at a time. Yes, it will take longer. But in theory, you're not making these for the whole neighborhood.

This recipe is similar to migas, which is eggs fried with tortilla chips, and it's also similar to all the egg dishes simmered in tomato sauce or salsa, like eggs in purgatory. But it's cuter. And romantic. Awwwww...

Egg-in-a-Heart

Vegetable oil, for frying the tortillas, as needed
Corn tortillas - 1-2 per person
Eggs - 1 for each tortilla
Marinara sauce (or salsa, if you prefer) about 1/4 cup per tortilla (Plus more for serving, if desired)

Heat the oil in the pan until it's hot enough to fry the tortillas. How do you know? You dip the edge of a tortilla in the oil, and if it bubbles like mad, it's ready to fry.

Meanwhile, use the heart-shaped cutter to cut a heart from the center of each tortilla you will use.

Fry the tortillas and the heart cut-outs in the oil, flipping as needed, until they're golden brown and crisp. They will warp and get bubbles in them as they fry - that's fine. It makes each one unique.

Let the fried tortilla drain on paper towels as they cool, to catch the grease that clings.

You can make the chips well in advance - several days is fine. If you make them in advance, make extra. They're good for snacking.

When you're ready to make the hearts, put a small pat of butter in the center of a frying pan and heat on medium. You want the butter to cover about the same diameter as the heart cutout, but it doesn't need to be exact.

Dollop the marinara (or salsa) in a ring around the butter. This creates a barrier so the egg won't spread quite as far. Place one of the tortilla rings on top of your marinara so the buttered area is in the middle of the heart.

Break an egg into the heart-shaped hole in the center of the tortilla.

Cover the pan and cook until the white of the egg is set and there's a white film covering the yolk. If you have a glass lid, you can watch the process, otherwise you'll need to peek occasionally, which slows down the cooking process as you lose the steam when you lift the lid. So don't keep peeking!

The yolk will still be runny when that film has formed on the egg. If you like a firmer yolk, keep cooking until the egg is done to your liking.

Use a large spatula to slide under the egg and tortilla and lift both at the same time, onto a plate. Add more sauce (or salsa) around the outside of the tortilla, if you prefer.

Serve hot with the heart-shaped cutouts (and extra rings, if you like.)

Happy Valentine's Day.

Yum

Spicy Orca Bean and Corn Salad

When I first got Orca Beans from Bob's Red Mill, my first thought was how pretty they were. The mottled black and white was striking.

My second thought was, "Gee, I wonder if those colors will stay after they're cooked." I've cooked a lot of different beans, and a lot of the spotted, mottled, and randomly colored beans tend to blur to a single color after they're cooked.

I was pleasantly surprised that the Orca Beans kept their color. The white wasn't as pristine and the black wasn't as dark after cooking, but the colors were still there.

I had considered using the beans for refried beans or bean dip or baked beans. But after they were cooked, I realized I wanted to use them in a recipe where they could be seen.

So I decided to make a chilled salad.

I'm really not really sure if I should call this a salad or a salsa, because you could use it as either. It's a nice spicy side dish, a great topping for a taco, and it's perfect perched atop a tortilla chip. The corn adds a nice sweetness, the beans add a creaminess, and the pepper adds that kick you're looking for.

Spicy Bean and Corn Salad

1 cup dried orca beans, cooked, drained, and cooled
1/4 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 4-inch piece of celery stalk, diced
Kernels from ears cooked corn
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons lime juice
Salt and pepper, to taste

These beans cook pretty much like any other dried bean. Read the package directions, or use your favorite method.

Since I live at high altitude, dried beans take longer than normal to cook here, so my timing would not be your timing.

When you're dicing the vegetables, you want the the jalapeno to be fairly small, but the rest of the vegetables should be cut to about the same size as the corn kernels.

Combine everything in a medium bowl. Stir well. You can serve immediately, but I think it's a lot better the next day, after the lime juice has flavored everything, and it has mellowed the onions a bit, so they aren't as sharp.

Refrigerate until serving time. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Bob's Red Mill is on Facebook!

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It Ain't Summer Yet Tomato Salsa

Sometimes I throw things together in the kitchen, thinking I won't blog about them ... and then later I decide that I'd better save the recipe.

This one came about because I'd been testing a pepper-coring gadget and I ended up with quite few jalapenos that needed a good home. If I had fresh tomatoes, I would have made a fresh salsa, but we're still a few months from having great tomatoes at reasonable prices.

So I turned to my one of my favorite canned tomato products - petite diced tomatoes. I like them better than the regular diced tomatoes, so I usually have a can or two on standby.

I did a demo a while back where I used the canned petite-diced tomatoes as-is in a "fresh" salsa and many people thought they were fresh raw tomatoes. I was pretty surprised at that, but I have to say that they're a better choice than the styrofoam-like out-of-season supermarket tomatoes, either as-is, or in a cooked application.

This salsa is fairly mild, so you can pile it onto tacos or a steak. Or into a quesadilla. I filled an avocado half with it for lunch one day. If you want it spicier, don't remove the jalapeno seeds and ribs, or use hotter peppers.

If I had any bell peppers hanging around, I would have added one or two of those, as well, but this was a clean-the-fridge salsa, rather than a planned one. Which explains the celery. When I was rooting around in the crisper looking for carrots (which I didn't have), I found the remains of a celery heart and decided to add that to the salsa.

The funny thing was that while the salsa was cooking, the celery aroma was pretty strong, but after it was cooked, the celery flavor wasn't prominent, but it did add texture.

This made a bit over a quart of salsa.

It Ain't Summer Yet Salsa

6 jalapenos, cored, seeded, diced
1 1/2 large onions, diced
2 small stalks celery, diced
1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Red wine vinegar or lime juice (optional, to taste)

You can cut the vegetables to any size you like - but remember that this is a salsa and not a stew where you'd want bite-size pieces.

Put the peppers, onion, celery, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic powder, oregano, and salt into a medium saucepan. If it looks too dry and you're worried about burning things, add about 1/2 cup water. As they cook, the vegetables will release moisture, but you don't want to start off by scorching the bottom of the pot.

Cook on medium, stirring as needed, until the vegetables are thoroughly cooked and the liquid has reduced so you have a thick stew of vegetables with the sauce clinging to them.

Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if needed. If you feel that the sauce should be more tart, add a few tablespoons of red wine vinegar or lime juice and cook for a few minutes more.

Transfer the salsa to storage containers and refrigerate.

Yum

Whole Foods Feasting: Peach Salsa!

Stone fruits are getting more plentiful in the produce section, and after I've had my fill of eating them as-is, I start using them in recipes. This time around, I decided to have some fun with peaches.

Whether you peel the peaches or not is up to you - the peels add some texture and color. Personally, I prefer to peel the peaches.

Some peaches are easier to peel than others, but if you have a lot of peaches to deal with, a quick dip in boiling water will loosen the skin.

If you prefer, you can use nectarines instead of peaches - whichever looks more appealing when you're shopping.

Peach Salsa
Makes 1 cup

1/2 peach
1/4 onion*
1 jalapeno
1 teaspoon lime juice
Pinch of salt
Few grinds white pepper

Peel and pit the peach, and dice it. Add it to a small bowl. Dice the onion, and add it to the bowl. Dice the jalapeno finely and add it to the bowl. add the lime juice, salt, and pepper.

Stir to combine and serve. You wan also make this in advance and refrigerate until needed.

*Sweet onions, like Vidalias, are preferred for their milder flavor. You can use other onions, however. A quick rinse in cold water will remove some of the sharpness.

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Whole Foods Friday: Spicy Garbanzo Salad

Hatch chiles are getting famous, but the season is short. However, you can buy Hatch products in cans. I love the little 4-ounce cans of chopped Hatch chiles. They're a nice amount and you can find them in mild or hot, to suit your taste.

I'm calling this a salad, but I loved it on a soft flour tortilla with some melted cheese. A perfect cheesy, melty, filling vegetarian taco.

Or, you could use it like a chunky salsa.

This was actually inspired by a salad that was served at the rehab hospital where my husband is recovering. That salad was a little less spicy and also included avocado as the "dressing." I liked the flavor of the avocado, but a salad like that wouldn't have much of a shelf life, since the avocado would go brown and unpleasant pretty quickly.

A few chunks or slices added to the salad at the table would be fine, though.

Spicy Garbanzo Salad

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 4-ounce can hot chopped Hatch chiles
12 cherry or other small tomatoes, halved
1/2 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of salt.

Combine all ingredients and stir. I think this is best after it has rested long enough for the flavors to meld and the harshness of of the onions to soften a bit. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

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Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

A guest post from Toni at Boulder Locavore. 

As the sweltering heat of summer turns to the chill of fall, it’s usually a signal for me to start turning the bounty of the harvest into goods for winter. A few years ago I got a wild hair to see if I could eat over a Colorado winter sourcing the protein and produce I ate only from a Michael-Pollan-100 mile radius. I dove headlong into food keeping practices such as canning, freezing, dehydrating and root cellaring. Quite frankly I canned so many tomatoes my first year (150 pounds to be exact) I never wanted to see anything made with tomatoes again for a long time!

As luck would have it, around that time I discovered Tomatillos.  Odd little things, I was not sure if they were fruit or vegetables, let alone what to do with them.  Loving a challenge and new discovery I spent some time chatting with the farmers at the local Farmer’s Market about what the heck a person would do with tomatillos; which is when I learned they are used in a number of different sauces and salsas.  Since then I have run into them everywhere but I was not even sure what they would taste like upon first casting my eyes on them.

Determined to make something delicious I settled on a roasted salsa.  It was simple and straightforward with a wonderful end flavor which has become a favorite in my household.  The tomatillos bear a light, sweet quality, as you’d identify in a tomato (though the overall flavor is different than a tomato) and they blend perfectly with the spicy heat of the chilies.  This salsa is great for enjoying simply with chips or would make a beautiful sauce on grilled meats as well.  I have frozen the salsa too (in much more civilized amounts than the tomato endeavor) with great results when thawing to enjoy during the winter months.

ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA

This salsa is a unique blend of spicy and sweet, along with more traditional salsa flavor notes of cilantro and onion, and could not be simpler to make.  Try to use peppers that are red to add some color contrast to the visual of the salsa!
Yield: Approximately 6 cups
Time required: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:
3 pounds of tomatillos
A large onion
4 Serrano chilies, de-stemmed and seeded*
2 jalapeno (large), de-stemmed and seeded*
Garlic, 5 cloves, unpeeled
Salt, two large pinches (about 2 teaspoons)
Cilantro, 1 cup

*A note on handling chilies; whenever handling spicy chilies like those in this recipe I highly recommend using gloves.  The oil from the chilies travels easily on the skin and getting it in your eyes, nose or mouth is something to be avoided!

1. Preheat the broiler.  Line two cookie sheets with foil.

2. Husk the tomatillos and rinse them. Note: their skin has a tacky feel which will not rinse off completely.

3. Place tomatillos, chilies and the unpeeled garlic cloves on the cookie sheet. Put them under the broiler checking them every few minutes until they char (approximately 7-10 minutes for the tomatillos and faster for the chilies). If the chilies char first, remove them, set aside and allow the rest of the ingredients to complete roasting.

4. While other ingredients are broiling, peel and cut the onion into large chunks and put it into the food processor bowl or blender to await the rest of the ingredients.

5. When the tomatillos are done roasting let them cool until able to be handles and place them into the food processor bowl. Squeeze the contents of the garlic cloves into the food processor bowl ensuring the peel does not go into the salsa.  Toss in the cilantro and salt. Process all ingredients until reaching a pureed salsa consistency.  Enjoy!

Like this post? Want more? Don't forget to stop by Boulder Locavore for more recipes! It's not just for Boulder locals, it's a food blog for everyone who wants to cook and eat fresh, local, seasonal, and delicious food. And Toni is a real sweetheart. You'll love her blog, I'm sure.

Yum

Tomatillo Salsa

The chilis I used - they might be Hatch, but I'm not sure.

The farmer's market got me again. I walked in knowing that I only needed a few things, and walked out with several bags.

When the produce is this beautiful, it's hard to say "no" and particularly hard when one of the vendors is having a "bag sale." I filled my canvas shopping bag with things from the stand for just ten bucks. You can't beat that.

Yanno, until you get home and start unloading and realize that you've got a confusing array of vegetables that aren't sure if they want to be in the same meal, much less in the same bag. I got them separated, and made the obvious items first. To me, tomatillos want to become salsa. It's their destiny.

Tomatillos have to be rinsed well after the husk is removed. There's a sticky substance that coats the fruit and it can be bitter. Peel the papery husk off and rinse them well before you use them.

When it comes to using chilis, it's up to your taste. And of course, different chilis pack different amounts of heat. I suggest that you start with less and add more as you want it.

Tomatillo Salsa

Tart, spicy, yummy salsa.

Tomatillos, husks removed and washed (I bought a basket that was about a quart. Maybe a dozen of them)
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 chilies, fire-roasted, cleaned, seeded
Salt, to taste

Cut the tomatillos in halves or quarters, and drop them, the onion, and the chilis into your food processor. Pulse until it is the texture you like. Add salt to taste.

If you like a fresh salsa, you're done, but I decided to cook mine, so I dumped it into a pot and let it simmer until the juices were reduced a bit and the vegetables had softened somewhat.

I chilled it for serving, but it would make a nice warm sauce, if that's what you like.

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Three Quick and Easy Salsas

All salsas benefit from a little resting time, to let the flavors meld a bit. These can be made the day before and refrigerated. If you don't want a soupy, drippy salsa, drain the liquid before serving. Leaving it in the salsa while it rests will help the flavors mingle a bit.

All of these salsas can be made chunky, finely diced, or blended. If you prefer a smooth salsa, a stick blender is the ideal tool for the job.

For any particular ingredient, you can add more or less, or leave it out. It's up to your tastebuds. My goal here was to make three different salsas, all with few ingredients, and to make each salsa with a different main component, color, and type of heat, and to do so without repeating any specific ingredient (except salt) among the three recipes.

The instructions for all three salsas is pretty simply. Prepare the ingredients, mix them together, taste for seasoning, and adjust as needed. That's it.

"Cooked" Tomato Salsa

1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatos
1/4 cup onion, diced and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha (or more, to taste)
Adobo seasoning, about 1/2 teaspoon or to taste
Salt
Sugar (optional)

Some folks prefer a cooked salsa to a fresh one, and using canned tomatoes and a prepared hot sauce gives this salsa that more mellow cooked taste without the need to do any cooking.

Rinsing the diced onions in cool water will keep them crisp while removing some of the bite; rinsing them (or giving them a little soak) in hot water will give them a head start on getting a little wilty, so they seem like they've been cooked at least a little bit.

Adobo powder comes in many brands and have varying amounts of salt. After adding the adobo to your liking, adjust the salt level. If the tomatoes are very tart, a little bit of sugar or honey will tame the tartness.

You can drain the tomatoes or leave them in their juice - it depends on what you're using the salsa for. And if you like even more of a cooked taste, you can certainly put this into a little saucepan and let it simmer until it's as cooked as you want it to be.

Fresh Green Tomatillo Salsa

3 tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and diced
1/2 teaspoon Hotheads Pepperspread (or more, to taste)
1/4 cup green pepper, diced.
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
Salt

I recently discovered the locally-produced Hotheads Pepperspread, but if it's not available where you are, you can use diced canned jalepenos, pickled jalepenos, or fresh hot peppers, adjusted to your taste.

The Pepperspread is convenient, though, and it packs a decent amount of heat in a little bit of sauce. The green bell pepper adds an extra bit of green color and a little crunch.

Cilantro is always optional. I found a cilantro paste in a tube at the local grocery store, and decided to try it out for this salsa, since fresh leaves would get soggy anyway. If my herb garden was supplying me with cilantro I wouldn't bother with a paste, but the fresh cilantro was a little sad at the grocery store, and I only needed a little bit, so this seemed like a better bargain.

Tropical Pineapple Salsa

1 small can crushed pineapple
1/3 of an English cucumber, diced, or 1 regular cukumber, seeded and diced
2 teaspoons ginger (from a plastic tube) or fresh grated ginger or ginger powder to taste
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt

I wanted a third salsa, and I didn't want to do the usual mango salsa. Mangoes are so fickle at the grocery store. Once in a while I get a good one, but it's a risk.

Canned crushed pineapple makes this one really easy to make. The cucumber adds a little freshness and a bit of crunch. The lime brightens it up, and the ginger adds a kick without being hot in the peppery sense.

Right next to the cilantro in a plastic tube was the ginger in a plastic tube. It was a two-fer price, so it seemed like a good idea. Fresh grated ginger would be stronger, and powdered ginger would have a longer shelf life, but this was perfectly convenient.

Yum