Mexican Roasted Tomatillo and Avocado Salsa

You can adjust the amount of heat in this and any salsa to suit your taste. Use this as a f lavour booster over a grilled chicken breast, fish fillet or lean steak and served with a side of grilled zucchini, eggplant, red and yellow peppers and red onions (misted with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper). It’s a satisfying meal that’s also low on the GI Index.

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

Roughly 1 lb of tomatillos (remove fine paper shell)

1 small jalapeño or green Serrano pepper, fresh not dried (deseeded and deveined if you want less heat), cut in half, lengthwise

1 small white onion, cut into quarters

1–2 cloves of garlic, left whole and in their skin

Up to ¼ cup of fresh, washed cilantro, chopped Sea salt to taste (approximately 2 tsp)

2 ripe avocados, chopped (at the last-minute so they don’t oxidize)

Juice of 1 small lime ( 2–3 tsp)

Directions: 1. If you have a Mexican comal, place over a gas burner and roast the tomatillos and the chili, flipping constantly so it gets blistered but not burnt. If not, use a foil-lined baking sheet, place tomatillos and chili on top and roast at 425 F until tomatillos are nicely blistered. Make sure to f lip them over on sheet so that all sides are blistered.

2. After the first time you turn the tomatillos, add onions and garlic to cookie sheet. They take less time so keep an eye on them. You want to retain some texture in the onion but still draw out its natural sugars. Remove when they start to blister. You may need to remove garlic first. If an ingredient looks ready, remove from heat and set aside.

3. Some people like to blend their salsa verde until it reaches a pulp-like consistency. I like mine smooth but not super pureed, so I add the tomatillos, chili (chop first before adding), garlic (remove from skin and cut into pieces), lime juice and salt into a food processor to pulse until desired consistency is reached.

4. Pour into a bowl. Add chopped, roasted onion for texture as well as cilantro. Stir.

5. Serve over tacos, enchiladas, with fresh corn tortilla chips or as a wonderful condiment for lean, grilled proteins.

Note: Some recipes call for all ingredients to be blended raw with water. I find that roasting the tomatillo, chili, onion and garlic first adds a wonderful layer of f lavour that gives this salsa a better taste.