Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

When we were on Kauai, we had the Food Network on in the background while eating dinner one night.  This lady made some kind of tomatillo marinade for her ribs and it intrigued me.  We were slacking at our "try something new at each grocery visit" rule and I thought I would try to use them somehow when we got home.  I initially roasted them, pureed them, added some spices and used it as a marinade on fish.  The Mr gave the thumbs up so I thought I'd incorporate them into a summertime favorite...salsa.

I love using my herb garden to make fun, fresh things and salsa is always a favorite especially when a Mexican food night is coming up.  So I grabbed some items from the lanai, got what I needed and got down to business.  Here's what you'll need:

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
(makes five 1/4 cup servings)

2 large tomatoes
3 medium tomatillos
1 medium onion
1 jalapeno (or preferred pepper)
1 head of garlic
2 tbsp fresh cilantro
3 leaves basil
4 sprigs thyme, stripped
1 tsp cumin
1 pinch salt  (I used half of my 1/8 tsp measuring spoon)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Grab your ingredients...hola amigos!

Cut the top off of your garlic head, wrap it in foil and roast for 30 minutes.

Tomatillos come in an inedible husk.  When you buy them at the store, make sure you check underneath so you don't buy a bruised or rotten one.  The husks leave a bit of a sticky film behind so after you peel off the husk, give them a good wash.

Give a light spray of cooking spray in a pan and put them in the oven for 15 minutes.  When they're cooking, your house will smell like chips and salsa.  This is the base for most green sauces in Mexican restaurants (along with chiles).  After they're roasted, set them aside as the liquid inside will be boiling hot.

Cut the tops off of your tomatoes.  Do what I call the "de-grodifying" process of removing the seeds and slime from the middle of the tomato.

Scoop out the innards not digging too deep into the flesh on the sides.  Make sure you remove that nubbin on the bottom.  Bleck.  Cut into strips or chunks.

Time for the jalapeno and onion to get in on the action.  Dice them up.

Flip the tomatillos over where the dent is and cut around it.  The seed pod should come out easily and try to retain any of the liquid in the tomatillo if possible.

Get your roasted garlic ready for the party as well.  When it's lukewarm, squeeze the garlic from the bottom. It will come out like toothpaste from a tube.  Sooo good!

In a food processor, put in all of the ingredients except the spices.

Give it a few pulses to the consistency of your choice.  I like mine with no tomato chunks but a little chunky on the onions and pepper.

This is taste time.  Taste the salsa at this point and if you're good with the milder taste, you're done!  If you want a bit of kick, add the rest of the spices.  (Salt, cumin, cayenne pepper and paprika or any of your preferred salt free spices)

Grab some salt free tortilla chips (my favorite are Garden of Eatin's No Salt Added Blue Chips) and dig in baby!

This is the perfect thing to bring to that family cookout or can it up and give it as a hostess gift for the next summer BBQ you attend!

You'll find varying schools of thought on freezing but according to StillTasty.com you can keep this for 5-7 days fresh or freeze it airtight for 1-2 months.  If it is kept at 0 degrees it says indefinitely but I'd say 6 months, so break out the chips and salsa during a blizzard if ya want!

Nutritional Information per serving (makes five 1/4 cup servings):  Calories 44  Total Fat 1g  Sodium 38mg  Potassium 284mg  Total Carbs 9g  Fiber 2g  Sugars 1g  Protein 2g  Vitamin A 12%  Vitamin C 24%  Calcium 2%  Iron 4%

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